Candidate Takes High Road After Slam on SNL

Pete Davidson is once again a big topic of conservation after the weekend's Saturday Night Live, but this time it has nothing to do with his love life. Davidson is being pilloried for his joke about former Navy SEAL Dan Crenshaw, who is running for a congressional seat in Texas. Crenshaw wears an eye patch because he lost his right eye during a tour in Afghanistan, and Davidson said that he looked like a "hitman in a porno," before adding, “I’m sorry, I know he lost his eye in war, or whatever." (Video here.) Davidson is now taking much criticism, reports USA Today, including from Meghan McCain, daughter of former POW and Sen. John McCain: "This is really awful and incredibly tone-deaf and offensive to veterans, their families and all who serve," she tweeted. "Come on SNL, do better." Crenshaw, himself, however, isn't among those calling for an apology.

“I want us to get away from this culture where we demand an apology every time someone misspeaks,” he tells TMZ. "We don't need to be outwardly outraged." He did criticize the joke in general, though. "Good rule in life: I try hard not to offend; I try harder not to be offended," he tweeted. "That being said, I hope @nbcsnl recognizes that vets don’t deserve to see their wounds used as punchlines for bad jokes." Others were not as forgiving, including Jack Pandol, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "Getting dumped by your pop star girlfriend is no excuse for lashing out at a decorated war hero who lost his eye serving our country," he wrote, referring to Davidson's split with Ariana Grande. After Crenshaw lost his eye, he served two more tours, per his website. (Just before SNL aired, Grande had something to say, too.)