--- title: Dan Crenshaw: Veteran Responds To Pete Davidson Eyepatch Gag description: The SNL comedian Pete Davidson is facing backlash after mocking congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw, who lost an eye in Afghanistan. canonical: https://time.com/5444687/snl-dan-crenshaw-pete-davidson-veteran/ author: Billy Perrigo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-05T13:37:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:05:08.975Z og:title: 'Their Apology Won't Mean Anything to Me.' GOP CandidateResponds to Pete Davidson Making Fun of His Eyepatch og:description: 'I want us to get away from this culture where we demand apologies' og:url: https://time.com/5444687/snl-dan-crenshaw-pete-davidson-veteran/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d468ee3ae3d4ec1/69893e40bc6cfc85683e75a1/crenshaw-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2920 og:image:height: 1643 og:image:alt: Election 2018-House-Texas Candidate-SNL Quip og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Their Apology Won't Mean Anything to Me.' GOP CandidateResponds to Pete Davidson Making Fun of His Eyepatch twitter:description: 'I want us to get away from this culture where we demand apologies' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d468ee3ae3d4ec1/69893e40bc6cfc85683e75a1/crenshaw-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Their Apology Won't Mean Anything to Me.' GOP Candidate Dan Crenshaw Responds to Pete Davidson Making Fun of His Eyepatch on _SNL_ > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=34ce99f4-f589-4789-a7da-3c73cf01e4bc&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: GOP Candidate Dan Crenshaw Responds to Pete Davidson Making Fun of His Eyepatch on SNL [Watch (HLS stream): GOP Candidate Dan Crenshaw Responds to Pete Davidson Making Fun of His Eyepatch on SNL](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Oz4NweB6.m3u8) (1:12)  _Published 2018-11-05. Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson is facing backlash after mocking Dan Crenshaw_  by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Correspondent Nov 5, 2018 1:37 PM UTC Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson is facing backlash after mocking Dan Crenshaw  by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Correspondent Nov 5, 2018 1:37 PM UTC _Saturday Night Live_ comedian [Pete Davidson](http://time.com/5369111/pete-davidson-ariana-groceries/) is facing backlash after mocking Dan Crenshaw, a Republican congressional candidate from [Texas](http://time.com/5441070/beto-orourke-texas-senate-downballot/) who lost an eye from an IED while serving in Afghanistan. While discussing his first impressions of candidates in the 2018 midterm elections, Davidson pulled up a photo of Crenshaw wearing an eyepatch. “This guy’s kinda cool, Dan Crenshaw,” he said. “You may be surprised to hear that he’s a congressional candidate from Texas, and not a hitman in a porno movie.” “I’m sorry, I know he lost his eye in war, or whatever,” he added. > [](https://twitter.com/DanCrenshawTX/status/1059161623842226176) On Sunday, Crenshaw recorded a video response. He prefaced it by saying, “I want us to get away from this culture where we demand apologies for every time a person misspeaks. I think that would be very healthy for our nation, to go in that direction.” He continued, “But I would like him and _Saturday Night Live_ to recognize something. Which is that veterans across the country probably don’t feel as though their wounds they received in battle should be the subject of a bad punchline for a bad joke. And here’s the real atrocity in all this: it wasn’t even funny.” [On ](https://twitter.com/foxandfriends/status/1059434337257603072)[_Fox & Friends_](https://twitter.com/foxandfriends/status/1059434337257603072)Monday, Crenshaw elaborated: “They certainly crossed the line, but their apology won’t mean anything to me. I think what they should do is maybe pull their money together and donate to some veterans charities out there who could really use some help. Davidson’s comments provoked online responses from Republican figures and those with military connections. Marsha Blackburn, a Senate candidate from Tennessee, said: “The unhinged Left has respect for no one, including our nation’s war heroes.” > [](https://twitter.com/VoteMarsha/status/1059099399152906240) > [](https://twitter.com/NRCC/status/1059100469207986176) > [](https://twitter.com/georgepbush/status/1059161080507834370) “What a disrespectful little punk. The pajama boys that mock men of real courage and patriotism always seem to be on the Left,” tweeted conservative radio host Buck Sexton. > [](https://twitter.com/BuckSexton/status/1059077528676122624) NBC did not immediately return a request for comment. ## Transcript [00:00] Everybody's asking [ UNKNOWN ] do you demand an [00:02] apology from this man? I do not demand an apology, [00:04] he probably should apologize, but I don't want some [00:07] hollow apology. I think he's exposed himself, I think [00:10] he's exposed himself for who he really is, I wish him [00:14] well. I think with him and maybe the producers at SNL [00:17] should do Is is pool their money together. Let's throw a [00:21] figure out there $ 1, 000, 000, and we'll donate that [00:25] to a series of veterans non- profits that helps veterans, [00:29] maybe the Navy Seal Foundation, maybe Wounded [00:31] Warriors, maybe Folds of Honor. I was just at their [00:33] benefit last night. There's a lot of great organizations [00:37] out there. There's a lot of veterans that really need [00:39] help. and frankly, this kind of things is offensive to [00:42] them, they feel laughed at. The first part of that [00:45] [ UNKNOWN ] was just strange, I don't what kind of [00:48] program he's watching, the second part I think is when [00:51] it just became dark and in those [ UNKNOWN ] we [00:54] have thick skin, but it's hard for us to understand. Why [00:59] war wounds would elicit such raucous laughter from an [01:03] audience. And so [ LAUGH ] I [01:07] think they should have rethought that joke a little bit, if [01:10] you could even call it a joke. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5444687/snl-dan-crenshaw-pete-davidson-veteran/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5444687/snl-dan-crenshaw-pete-davidson-veteran/"},"headline":"'Their Apology Won't Mean Anything to Me.' 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