Crenshaw lost his right eye in 2012 during his third deployment when he was hit by an IED explosion in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. The blast destroyed his eye, and he required surgery to save the vision in his left eye.[15] He remained in the Navy for four years after the injury, and served his fourth and fifth tours of duty in Bahrain and South Korea.[15][20]
Crenshaw and Kevin Roberts advanced from the nine-candidate first round of the Republicanprimary election to face each other in a runoff election;[25] Crenshaw received 155 votes more than Kathaleen Wall,[26] a candidate backed by Senator Ted Cruz[27] and Governor Greg Abbott.[28] The lead-up to the runoff election was contentious.[29] A super PAC funded by Roberts' brother-in-law, Mark Lanier, focused on Crenshaw's 2015 criticisms of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, despite Roberts having also been critical of Trump in the past. The ads also compared Crenshaw's policy proposals to those of President Barack Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders.[30] Gaining the endorsement of Senator Tom Cotton, Crenshaw received national attention, appearing in print and television, including on Laura Ingraham's show on Fox Business.[31]
Crenshaw won the runoff to advance to the November general election.[32][33] On November 6, he defeated Democratic nominee Todd Litton, 52.8% to 45.6%.[34][35] After the election, Crenshaw called for the depoliticization of comedy and sports and expressed a desire that political rhetoric be toned down.[36]
On the November 3 episode of Saturday Night Live, comedian Pete Davidson joked about the appearances of multiple candidates in the 2018 midterm elections and described Crenshaw as looking like a "hit man in a porno movie" while adding that he lost his eye in "war or whatever". The joke received widespread criticism[37][38] and on the following episode, Davidson and Crenshaw appeared on air together. Davidson offered an apology, which Crenshaw accepted. Crenshaw also used the segment to advocate for veterans' issues.[6][39] Crenshaw and others have speculated that the joke may have helped him win,[40][41] as well as aided later fundraising.[42]
Two years later, Davidson rescinded his apology, saying he had been "forced to apologize", adding that "I didn't think I did anything wrong." In response, Crenshaw called it "a little sad" that Davidson "can't stop thinking" about him.[43]
Crenshaw was reelected in 2020, defeating Democratic nominee Sima Ladjevardian from Houston, Texas[44] with 55.6% of the vote to Ladjevardian's 42.8%.[45] During the campaign, he spent over $11 million through October 16, 2020, making it one of the most expensive Congressional races in the country.[42]
The Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs implicated Crenshaw and V.A. Secretary Robert Wilkie in a 2020 report as having engaged in a campaign of disparagement toward a female veteran who reported sexual assault to the Navy. Crenshaw said, "The Democrats created this narrative".[50][51]
Crenshaw is publicly critical of the Freedom Caucus, whom he regards as divisive "performance artists" for constantly attacking moderate Republicans.[53]
Crenshaw opposes gun control measures, including bans on semi-automatic firearms.[62][63] In response to the shootings in Dayton and El Paso, he suggested exploring red flag laws as a possible solution to gun violence.[64] But after the 2022 Robb Elementary school shooting, Crenshaw partially retreated from the idea, arguing that such laws should be discussed at state level rather than nationally, saying, "What you're essentially trying to do with a red flag law is enforce the law before the law has been broken, and that's a really difficult thing to do" and "if there's such a threat that they're threatening somebody with a weapon already, then they've already broken the law, so why do you need this other law?"[65] Crenshaw has also said that raising the legal age to purchase a firearm to 21 is ineffective but supports expanding background checks to include juvenile criminal history.[66]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Crenshaw said that Democrats and the media were exaggerating the threat.[70] He was a high-profile defender of Trump's response to the pandemic. He did not wear face masks consistently in settings advised by health experts and mandated by Governor Greg Abbott.[71][72]
Crenshaw argued that FDA regulations impeded the development of COVID-19 tests.[73][74]
Healthcare
Crenshaw favors repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), describing it as an "unmitigated disaster".[75] During his 2018 campaign, he advocated allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, becoming one of a handful of Republicans to endorse what was primarily a progressive idea.[76] By 2019, however, Crenshaw had retreated from this position.[76]
Crenshaw has introduced legislation to fund research into the use of psychedelic therapy as a treatment option for military members suffering from PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.[80]
Donald Trump
Crenshaw with President Donald Trump in December 2019
According to Politico, Crenshaw "voted with Donald Trump most of the time but isn't a loyalist. He's a stalwart conservative willing to criticize other conservatives."[81]
Although Crenshaw had criticized some of Trump's statements in a 2015 Facebook post, he became a "staunch defender" of Trump after the 2016 election.[82][83] He voted against both articles of impeachment the House of Representatives brought against Trump in 2019.[84]
In 2020, Crenshaw defended the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[85][86] In a video Trump retweeted, Crenshaw rebutted criticisms that the Trump administration had been slow in responding to the virus.[85]
Crenshaw criticized the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack perpetrated by Trump supporters, and said that Trump should have ordered the rioters to stop. During the siege, he urged the protesters to "Stop this bullshit right now" on Twitter.[98][99] Crenshaw condemned the rioting and some of his fellow congressional Representatives for "saying constantly this is our time to fight."[100] While not naming any politicians, Crenshaw stated they were "lying to millions" and scattered when there was an actual threat to the Capitol. He deemed efforts to fight the Electoral College vote certification unconstitutional, and voted against the objections to the electoral vote in both Arizona and Pennsylvania, but defended Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley against allegations that they stoked the riot.[101][102][103] Crenshaw voted against the Trump impeachment on January 13, 2021.[104] In a statement, Crenshaw said that while Trump's words had encouraged "unconstitutional theories that risk the stability of our nation", he had voted against the second impeachment because he felt Democrats had "rushed" the process and that impeaching a president who only had seven days left in office would serve little purpose and inflame further tensions.[105]
After Liz Cheney was censured for voting to impeach Trump, Crenshaw asserted in an interview that the Republican Party needed "to move on" from claims the 2020 election was stolen, but also accused the media of continuing to weaponize the issue, arguing both were ignoring larger issues such as the economy, the COVID pandemic and illegal immigration. He also said, "I do not think Trump is the devil, and I won't say that; I don't think he's Jesus either."[106] Crenshaw also supported Representative Adam Kinzinger, who sat on the January 6 select committee and is publicly critical of Trump, and criticized far-right members of the Freedom Caucus as "performance artists" and "grifters".[53]
In 2022, on his podcast Hold These Truths, Crenshaw criticized Republicans who contested the results of the 2020 presidential election, saying of their efforts, "It was always a lie. The whole thing was always a lie. And it was a lie meant to rile people up".[107]
Election reform
In 2019, Crenshaw voiced opposition to the For the People Act of 2019, saying it would "limit free speech drastically". He also said the bill would use taxpayer money to "legalize" the kind of electoral fraud that he alleges occurred on the Republican side in the 2018 election for North Carolina's District 9.[108]PolitiFact rated Crenshaw's assertion about the North Carolina race "false", adding, "nothing in the bill that expands who can collect absentee ballots, allows people to fill out ballots for others, or loosens witnessing procedures for absentee ballots", as happened in that election.[108][109] Crenshaw argued that the bill did not include a federal ban on ballot harvesting, and supported the American Civil Liberties Union's opposition to it over new campaign contribution revisions.[108]
Environment
Crenshaw speaking at an environmental event in June 2022
During Crenshaw's 2018 campaign, his website made brief mention of global warming, applauding Trump for withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords.[110] Crenshaw called the agreement "costly and meaningless", virtue signaling, and bad policy.[110] He also said, "We must use our money to develop better infrastructure."[110] In 2018, Crenshaw called for a debate on the causes of climate change, adding, "We can't start off the conversation saying the climate is settled. The right way to have this conversation is to actually listen to what the science says on both sides."[111]
In 2019, Crenshaw said, "climate change is occurring and that man-made emissions play a part in that. What isn't clear is how our actions will serve to reverse that warming trend, and what the cost-benefit outcome would be. Regardless, we should continue pursuing new green energy solutions that lessen our impact on the environment and create cleaner air and water."[111] In 2020, he criticized solar and wind energy as "silly solutions" that "don't work," and instead advocated expanding nuclear energy and carbon capture technology.[112]
In 2016, Crenshaw harshly criticized then-candidate Trump's "insane rhetoric" toward Muslims and "hateful" speech.[114] During Crenshaw's 2018 campaign, he defended Trump's proposal to build a border wall on the Mexico–United States border.[62] In a May 2019 appearance on The View, he claimed that 80%–90% of asylum seeker requests "don't have a valid asylum claim"; news outlet PolitiFact called the claim "false", writing that although only 20% to 30% of asylum claims are granted, "experts said there are many reasons why cases might be closed or requests might be denied, regardless of the merits of a claim."[115] In 2021, Crenshaw accused the Biden administration of provoking a crisis on the southern border by having a moratorium on deportations and reversing Trump's policies on asylum and illegal immigration.[116] He has also argued that Mexican drug cartels have fueled illegal immigration by taking advantage of the U.S. asylum process to smuggle people into the country.[117]
Crenshaw supports enforcing physical barriers and implementing technology at the southern border to prevent illegal immigration. He has also expressed a belief that people who try to enter the U.S. illegally "aren't bad people" but "they are breaking the law, and they're contributing to an unsustainable system" and are "cutting in front of the line of all the legal immigrants."[118]
Crenshaw voted for the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, which authorizes DHS to nearly double the available H-2B visas for the remainder of FY 2020.[119][120] He also voted for the Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 1158), which effectively prohibits ICE from cooperating with Health and Human Services to detain or remove illegal alien sponsors of unaccompanied alien children (UACs).[121]
Social issues
Despite having previously expressing support for the legalization of same-sex marriage,[122][123] Crenshaw voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, even after amendments allowing religious exemptions. Calling same-sex marriage a "tough issue",[124] Crenshaw believes that government should not be involved in regulating marriage. In 2015, he took issue with people trying to suggest Christianity is as shocking and as violent as Islam, saying, "the worst thing modern Christianity stands for is anti-homosexual marriage, which is a far cry from sex slaves, sharia law and beheadings."[125][126]
In the case of a 7-year-old transgender child who was the subject of a custody battle between a supportive mother and an unsupportive father, Crenshaw opined in favor of the father. The child, who had identified as a girl from the age of 3 years old, was seeking a gender transition. (At this age, transitioning involves a social transition, where the child presents themselves in line with their identified gender; it does not involve medical interventions such as cross-sex hormones or surgeries). Following a judge's decision to grant custody to the mother, Crenshaw called the outcome "heart-breaking" and added, "[a] 7-year-old can't possibly make this decision or understand it. Parents should know better. I hope this father receives the public support he needs."[127]
Crenshaw supports cooperation with and support for Israel.[7][131] During some of his public appearances, he has been targeted by anti-semitic white nationalists, known as Groypers, for his pro-Israel views.[132][133] He voted to provide Israel with support following 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.[134][135]
In 2019, Crenshaw co-sponsored a resolution opposing Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, saying that it would embolden the Turkish military's assault on the Kurdish forces.[136] He supported Trump's decision to kill Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani.[137][138]
In April 2020, Crenshaw and Senator Tom Cotton introduced a bill that would allow civil suits against foreign states in incidents related to injury or death. The legislation came in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and calls for the Chinese government to be held accountable for "allow[ing] this virus to spread".[139]
Crenshaw married Tara Blake in 2013.[6] He is a Methodist[146] and hosts Hold These Truths, a podcast he launched in February 2020.[147]
In April 2021, Crenshaw suffered a detached retina in his functional left eye, undergoing emergency surgery. As he recovered, he expected to be virtually blind for about a month. He said, "I don't have a 'good eye,' but half a good eye."[148]
Awards and recognition
In 2020, Fortune magazine included Crenshaw in its 40 Under 40 in the "Government and Politics" category, writing that he "wears his service to his country on his face."[149]
Works
Dan Crenshaw (2020). Fortitude: American Resilience in the Era of Outrage. New York: Twelve. ISBN978-1-5387-3330-1.[7] The National Republican Congressional Committee purchased nearly $400,000 worth of copies of the book.[150]
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