Dan Crenshaw responds after Pete Davidson says he was forced to apologize for 'SNL' joke
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw joked Friday that "Saturday Night Live" cast member Pete Davidson cannot get him out of his head, following Davidson's recent revelation that he was forced to apologize for mocking Crenshaw during a November 2018 skit.
In an interview on "Fox & Friends" with host Brian Kilmeade, Crenshaw said that while he's not sure Davidson's jokes always land, it "is what it is."
"It's like our comedic careers are joined at the hip because he can't stop thinking about me," he mused. "It's a little sad."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We had a really good moment, you know, at that time in 2018," he continued. "America liked it. The left and right liked it. So, you know, we don't really want to ruin that."
PETE DAVIDSON: AFTER MOCKING REP. DAN CRENSHAW, I 'KIND OF GOT FORCED TO APOLOGIZE'
Davidson, 26, recalled the incident during his recently released Netflix special: "Alive from New York."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I got in trouble last year because I was making some jokes," he said during the special. "I didn’t think I did anything wrong. It was like words that were twisted so that a guy could be famous... So I made fun of this guy with an eye patch and then, like, I kind of got forced to apologize."
Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who wears an eye patch on his right eye after he was injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan, was a GOP House candidate when Davidson appeared on the show's "Weekend Update" segment in 2018 to make fun of various political candidates.
"This guy is kind of cool, Dan Crenshaw. You may be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate from Texas and not a hitman in a porno movie," Davidson said as Crenshaw's photo appeared on the screen. "I’m sorry, I know he lost his eye in war or whatever..."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Following criticism, Davidson apologized to Crenshaw in person the following week on the show. The congressman accepted and lobbed a few jokes aimed at Davidson while appearing on the segment.
However, in the Netflix special, Davidson said he was pressured to apologize amid death threats aimed at him and his mother, whom he often refers to as his roommate.
"People were like, ‘You hate America!’ And I’m like, 'No, I just didn’t want to be incorrect about how he lost his f---ing eye," Davidson later adds. "Is that a crime?!'"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"My roommate thought I should apologize so that I didn’t get shot in the face," he added.
Crenshaw expressed a fondness for Davidson, whose father died in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, that came from meeting him on the "SNL" set.
"The Pete Davidson I remember, you know, he went out to buy some cigarettes...while we were rehearsing and he came back because he had found this lighter that said 'Never Forget' on it and he gave that to me as a gesture," said Crenshaw. "He said this was kind of cool that this happened to come up as he was buying cigarettes."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
Crenshaw told Kilmeade that he thought Davidson "meant well at the time," although "you can never tell with comedians."
"To be fair, if we took everything that comedians said on a Netflix special seriously, man our country would be in a world of hurt," he concluded. "I would like to remember the guy that I saw in person and hung out with that night. "
Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report.