Plans for Dan Crenshaw’s much-talked-about appearance on “Saturday Night Live” this past weekend were kept quiet until the last minute.
But on Monday’s episode of “Today,” the Republican Congressman-elect explained that he agreed to appear alongside Pete Davidson to accept his apology after being contacted by “SNL” producers.
“We were hesitant at first, we weren’t sure what the skit was going to look like,” Crenshaw said. “But in the end, we decided to do it because what better platform than to give a united message for the country, talk about forgiveness and then talk about veterans?”
Davidson faced widespread criticism for a joke in the previous week’s episode of “SNL” about Crenshaw’s eye patch, a result of an injury he suffered while serving as a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan.
“I mean this from the bottom of my heart, it was a poor choice of words,” Davidson said to Crenshaw in apology. “The man is a war hero, and he deserves all the respect in the world.”
“Thanks for making a Republican look good,” Crenshaw responded, before accepting the opportunity to get in a few jabs at Davidson’s expense.
Crenshaw said the show came up with the framework for the exchange and let him suggest several jokes.
“It’s not all [that] often that I get to pitch a bunch of comedy ideas to one of the biggest shows in the world, so the Good Idea Fairy was all over the place,” Crenshaw said on “Today.”
Aside from the laughter, Crenshaw called on Americans to “never forget” the service and sacrifices of our veterans. He also paid tribute to Davidson’s father, a firefighter who was killed on 9/11.
Related: Dan Crenshaw and Pete Davidson’s sincere plea for unity
Crenshaw told “Today” he was happy for the opportunity to appear with Davidson.
“It felt good and it felt like the right thing to do. I would appreciate if everybody would stop looking for reasons to be offended and that’s what this was all about.”
