NBC reporter Kasie Hunt learned the hard way Sunday that leftists aren’t willing to give a GOP Congressional candidate the benefit of a compliment, even when that candidate is unfairly maligned.
Saturday night, SNL cast-member Pete Davidson poked fun at Republican Congressional hopeful Dan Crenshaw, mocking Crenshaw for wearing an eye patch designed to hide a wound he received from an IED while serving with the U.S. military in Afghanistan.
Crenshaw responded to the joke by saying he could certainly handle a few harsh words about his accessory, and cautioned Americans not to give in to “apology culture.” But reporters and fellow Republicans who’ve interacted with Crenshaw — including Hunt — were quick to offer their own kind words for the former Navy SEAL.
Hunt noted that she’d interviewed Crenshaw and that she admired him for his service. She said nothing of Davidson’s joke, but suggested that we need “more” people like Crenshaw in Congress, regardless of party affiliation.
I interviewed @DanCrenshawTX for a piece on vets running. I enjoyed our conversation — and as an American I am incredibly grateful for his service and his sacrifice. Our country is better off with more people like him in Congress, party aside.
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) November 4, 2018
That, the Left determined, was not acceptable. Twitter users tore into Hunt, accusing Hunt of “outing” herself as a Republican and “endorsing” Crenshaw, and calling Crenshaw “dangerous” and “hate-filled.”
Thanks for outing yourself as a Republican, Kasie. I always suspected it, but now you’ve verified. You & Andrea Mitchell are two of a kind, and that’s not a compliment.
— Pumpkin Spice Covfefe (@total_janarchy) November 4, 2018
As a gay American, I think Dan is dangerous and hate-filled in his rhetoric and policies towards gay people. I don’t care how many Jody parts he left at war. But I DO care that a hack political reporter is making endorsements. I’ll be contacting msnbc.
— DemocratForLife (@DCMorgan1972) November 4, 2018
Our country is not better off with people in Congress who will vote to take away their health care & destroy their retirement security. And there are far more vets running as Democrats this cycle, many of them women. Have you interviewed Mikie Sherrill, Amy McGrath, (continued)
— Jon Bowzer Bauman (@JonBowzerBauman) November 5, 2018
A number of Twitter users called for Hunt to be fired, apparently for the crime of saying something genuinely nice about a person they disagree with politically.
That you did not delete your tweet immediately says that you are stubbornly going to go with it. You’ve been walking a rather wobbly fine line for weeks. You should be fired. If you want to be a political operative, get out of journalism! @MSNBC
— Goldensrule (@BDBgoldens3) November 4, 2018
How much are they paying you, @kasie, to betray democracy? Because more Rs in any seat means the continued destruction of our country. #complicitpress
— Pamela (@tpacific) November 4, 2018
Hunt ended up trying to defend herself in a series of tweets outlining that she simply liked Crenshaw as a person, that her tweet shouldn’t be seen as an endorsement, but that she was offering her own perspective on a man running for Congress who’d been, perhaps, unfairly maligned. The piece she’d interviewed Crenshaw for, she explained, was a bigger piece on veterans running for Congress, and Democrats were also interviewed.
I’m not endorsing any candidate. I AM saying thanks for serving and saying I think more veterans in Congress is good for our country. If you disagree, we can agree to disagree.
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) November 4, 2018
I understand that. I’m not urging voters to pick him over his opponent. I am saying he should not be mocked for his service and that I personally appreciate that he sacrificed for all of us.
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) November 4, 2018
That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying we should value service from our veterans and appreciate what that experience can bring to the table, not mock them when they come home hurt.
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) November 4, 2018
I just don’t see defending a veteran who is mocked for their wounds as a venial sin. We are going to have to disagree on this.
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) November 4, 2018
Hunt also brought up that she’d have made the same comment if the veteran being mocked was a Democrat — for example, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who lost both legs in combat while serving in the Middle East.
In this back-and-forth, Crenshaw might be the best example: he took the heat, and then let it go.