SNL star Kenan Thompson slammed Pete Davidson’s joke about Republican Congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw, who lost his eye while serving in Afghanistan, on Monday.
“This guy is kind of cool — Dan Crenshaw,” Davidson started during a “Weekend Update” segment in this weekend’s episode. “You may be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate for Texas and not a hit-man in a porno movie,” Davidson added. “I’m sorry, I know he lost his eye in war, or whatever.”
Crenshaw, who is expected to win against his Democratic opponent this Tuesday, was almost totally blinded by an IED blast while he was serving in Afghanistan. (RELATED: Terrorists Took This Navy SEAL’s Eye. Here’s What They Couldn’t Take…)
Terrorists Took This Navy SEAL’s Eye – Here’s What They Couldn’t Take…/ YouTube/ Daily Caller
After the joke made rounds online, the Republican hopeful said he tries “hard not to be offended,” but hopes SNL “recognizes that vets don’t deserve to see their wounds used as punchlines for bad jokes.”
Longtime SNL star Kenan Thompson echoed that sentiment Monday.
“[Davidson] definitely missed the mark,” Thompson said on The Today Show. “And I think he was more so commenting on the fact that the joke maybe didn’t land as hard as he wanted to as opposed to being like, I don’t care about veterans.”
“I personally would never necessarily go there, but it’s tough when you’re fishing for jokes,” he added, calling Davidson “a humble dude and has got a big heart” and doesn’t go “out to offend people.”
Watch the full interview:
For what it’s worth, Davidson’s father, Scott Davidson, was a New York City firefighter killed responding to the 9/11 attacks.
Watch the full segment, with Davidson’s joke in question, below: