Dan Crenshaw on Pete Davidson’s ‘SNL’ Apology: ‘We Had a Lot of Fun’
Less than two days after roasting and forgiving Pete Davidson on Saturday Night Live for his controversial Weekend Update jokes, Lt. Com. Dan Crenshaw detailed the mindset of unity that prompted his appearance.
The Texan congressman-elect admitted on Monday’s Today Show that he was initially “hesitant” about the SNL spot since he wasn’t sure “what the skit was going to look like.” He went forward with the pre-Veterans Day bit “because what better platform to give a united message for the country, talk about forgiveness and talk about veterans … They let me do that last part where we got a little bit serious and were able to give a message about what I think it means to connect with veterans and how to bridge that gap between civilians and military.”
The Today hosts complimented the Republican for his sharp “comedic timing” – he said on SNL that Davidson “looks like if the meth from Breaking Bad was a person” – and Crenshaw said his material was a “collaboration.”
“[The writers] come up with the framework,” he said. “I had a bunch of ideas. It’s not all that often I get to pitch comedy ideas to one of the biggest shows in the world. The good idea fairy was all over the place. It was fun, though. We had a lot of fun.”
Davidson originally drew criticism for his Weekend Update comments during a pre-midterm election episode in which he compared the politician and military veteran to a “hitman from a porno movie.” While Crenshaw initially said that SNL didn’t need to apologize, he joined Davidson on-set for a surprise appearance.
“In what must be a huge shock for people who know me, I made a poor choice last week,” Davidson said during the segment. “I made a joke about Lt. Com. Dan Crenshaw and on behalf of myself and the show, I apologize… I mean this from the bottom of my heart, it was a poor choice of words. The man is a war hero and he deserves all the respect in the world … “If any good came of this, maybe it was for one day, the left and the right finally came together to agree on something: That I’m a dick.”