Dave Bautista, who plays Drax in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” recently went on a tirade against Texas Congressman and former Navy Seal Dan Crenshaw over his criticism of Olympic hammer thrower, Gwen Berry.
Berry had made a public show of turning her back on the flag and donning a T-shirt that said “activist athlete” as she was awarded a bronze medal. As the Daily Wire previously reported, Crenshaw has argued that if Berry is unwilling to proudly represent the United States, she should be cut from the team.
“We don’t need any more ‘activist athletes.’ She should be removed from the team. You know, the entire point of the Olympic team is to represent the United States of America. That’s the entire point, okay?” Crenshaw said on Fox and Friends on June 28. “It’s one thing when these NBA players do it. OK, fine, we’ll just stop watching. But now, the Olympic team – and it’s multiple cases of this. They should be removed. That should be the bare minimum requirement, is that you believe in the country you’re representing.”
The following Wednesday, the lawmaker reiterated his take on the Hugh Hewitt show, saying, “If you’re going to represent the Team USA, you should, well, you should like the USA, and that the mere notion of supporting the United States shouldn’t offend you, if you’re going to be on Team USA after all.”
This didn’t sit well with Bautista. The 52-year-old actor retweeted a thread from former Florida congressional candidate, Pam Keith, who said, “The FIRST thing that REAL PATRIOTS (not people who actually worship white supremacy more than the freedoms we fight for) know, is that contrived or forced demonstrations of reverence aren’t worth a hill of beans. If someone isn’t feeling a swell of pride or emotion when the anthem is played, so be it. They likely have very good reasons for the way they feel.”
Bautista added his own message to Crenshaw: “I really respect your service but otherwise you’re just a huge f***ing tw**.”
Bautista, who is also set to star in the upcoming Warner Bros. release, “Dune,” has a long history of being politically outspoken. In January, he and Guardians director James Gunn accused Texas Senator Ted Cruz of treason. And in May 2020, he made a sarcastic Nazi reference, tweeting “Heil Trump.”
Disney, Marvel’s parent company, has never publicly addressed Bautista’s online political speech, including likening former President Trump to Hitler, and there has never been any indication that the former pro-wrestler has been disciplined for the Nazi reference.
This stands in marked contrast to the Mouse House’s decision to fire former “Mandalorian” actress Gina Carano for sharing an Instagram post that compared the divisiveness America is experiencing today to the cultural climate that preceded the rise of the Nazi party in Germany. In that case, a Disney spokesperson called Carano’s post, “abhorrent and unacceptable” and claimed it “[denigrated] people based on their cultural and religious identities.”