Rep.-elect Dan Crenshaw said Monday he wasn’t immediately sure whether to accept an invitation by “Saturday Night Live” after comedian Pete Davidson joked about his military service. The Texas Republican said it came down to wanting to unite people who were also offended by the skit.
“We were hesitant at first. We weren’t sure what the skit was going to look like, had a lot of veterans events planned this weekend,” Crenshaw, who wears an eye patch due to an injury he suffered while serving as a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan six years ago, said on NBC’s “Today.”
Crenshaw did not call for Davidson to apologize or attack the actor after the Nov. 3 incident, in which the comedian said the retired lieutenant commander had “lost his eye in war — or whatever.”
Crenshaw said he decided to go to “SNL” and address what had happened a week earlier in an attempt to unite people upset on his behalf.
“It felt like the right thing to do. I would appreciate it if everybody would stop looking for reasons to be offended and that’s what this was all about,” Crenshaw said.
“It felt like the right thing to do. I would appreciate it if everybody would stop looking for reasons to be offended and that’s what this was all about.”-Dan Crenshaw on his surprise SNL appearance pic.twitter.com/7WygTrYYCg
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 12, 2018
“What better platform than [that] to sort of give a united message for the country, talk about forgiveness, and talk about veterans? And they let me do that last part where we got a little bit serious and I was able to give a message about what it means to be veterans, and how to bridge that gap between civilians and military,” he said.
“We decided to do it … because what better platform than to sort of give a united message for the country.”-Dan Crenshaw joins TODAY after his appearance on SNL pic.twitter.com/XWoDzRgFCd
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 12, 2018
The veteran told viewers instead of thanking former service members on Veterans Day, they should say “never forget” because it’s “less transactional.”
“When you thank somebody, it’s almost like you’re on other side of them. When you’re say ‘never forget,’ it’s almost like this secret code between Americans where we all recognize that we can never forget the sacrifice of our veterans — past and present — but also never forget why a lot of veterans are still out in the fight now,” he said. “It’s more of a team effort.”
