Newsweek smears Dan Crenshaw

Wow. Sounds shameful! It is also not what happened.

The Newsweek story opens with these lines: “Republican congressman Dan Crenshaw unsuccessfully tried to lose two combat veterans by ducking into a private elevator as they confronted him about his support for President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.”

It should be noted here that Crenshaw himself is a combat veteran, whose service cost him his right eye. He is a retired Navy SEAL lieutenant commander with multiple tours of duty under his belt. Amazingly enough, Newsweek itself makes no mention of these details. The only reference the story makes to Crenshaw’s military background comes in quotes from one of the men who confronted the congressman this week in the Cannon House Office Building. The demonstrator, Jason Hurd of the anti-Trump veterans group Common Defense, uses the phrase “fellow combat vets,” claims the “veteran community” has no place for Crenshaw, and is quoted characterizing American democracy as “everything that [Crenshaw] and I fought for.” That is about it. Those are the only clues Newsweek readers are given to alert them to Crenshaw’s military background.

The reason to obscure Crenshaw’s record is obvious: It allows Newsweek to characterize the story as one where a cowardly U.S. lawmaker disrespected selfless, hard-working combat veterans.

But far worse than burying details of Crenshaw’s military service is the fact that what happened Thursday between the Republican congressman and the Common Defense protesters is nothing like what Newsweek describes.

The short of it is this: A group of anti-Trump demonstrators approached Crenshaw as he went about his daily business and heckled him for being “complicit” in the president’s supposed crimes. Crenshaw listened patiently (his irritation becomes visible only as the confrontation goes on long past the point of diminishing returns), despite the fact that the “dialogue” was a one-sided harangue. It was also an obvious setup — the protesters videotaping the entire is incident is a bit of a giveaway.

Here is a small sample of what was said Thursday by men who claim they just wanted to have a “conversation” with Crenshaw:

They berated Crenshaw tediously in this vein for several minutes, even after he allowed a few of them to ride down with him in the “members only” elevator. Let’s pause here to remember that Newsweek accused Crenshaw explicitly of trying to hide in an elevator — inviting the protesters to ride along with him is a funny way of “hiding.” The activists continued to implore the congressman to do his “duty” and eventually gave up as he went on his way. That is the entire interaction.

Don’t take my word for it. See the video for yourself, which Common Defense agents posted online shortly after the incident:

I see in this video exactly what Hot Air’s John Sexton saw, which is, “one loud guy shouting at Crenshaw and talking over him (and his buddies) while another guy shoots a video.”

Newsweek lied, and it did so to benefit anti-Trump activists. What a shocker.

This was not a news report. It was partisan advocacy by magazine that is worth every penny of the $1.00 for which it was purchased.