Rep. Dan Crenshaw responded Tuesday to a New York Times contributor who questioned his patriotism and falsely accused him of not supporting the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund.
“Anytime a Republican says they are ‘patriots’ ask them if they voted to fund the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund. You know who’s for it? Ilhan Omar. You know who hasn’t sponsored it? Dan Crenshaw,” Times op-ed writer Wajahat Ali said in a since-deleted tweet.
The Texas Republican fired back, pointing out that he was actually a co-sponsor of the legislation in question.
“Hey ‘journalist,’ maybe you should check your facts. I am a co-sponsor. Nice try though,” Crenshaw tweeted.
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He illustrated his reply with an image of an X-ray showing an injury he sustained to his right eye while fighting terrorists overseas, saying: “Also, patriotism:”
Hey “journalist,” maybe you should check your facts. I am a co-sponsor. Nice try though.
Also, “patriotism”: https://t.co/3jSAFc5prw pic.twitter.com/1GURun1cr4
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) June 11, 2019
Crenshaw, a veteran of three combat deployments as a Navy SEAL, lost his eye and required surgery to save vision in his left after being hit by the detonation of an improvised explosive device during a 2012 tour of duty in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.
After learning of his error, Ali sent out two tweets thanking Crenshaw for sponsoring the legislation and apologizing for his error.
“Thanks for letting me know. I’m glad you did and I have no problem correcting and updating the record with facts,” Ali said in one tweet, before taking another shot at Crenshaw. “Now try it with your comments about Ilhan Omar. You’ll feel better. Sincerely, a fellow patriot.”
“I deleted this b/c Dan Crenshaw supported the Fund in May after being a holdout,” Ali said in a second tweet. “Apologies to him for the tweet. I have no problem admitting it & correcting the record with facts. For those trying to ‘own’ me, especially as you still promote ‘alternative facts,’ enjoy Tuesday.”
The Dan Crenshaw patriotism question
Ali was not the first prominent liberal to question Crenshaw’s seemingly unimpeachable patriotism. His fellow freshmen Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar both tried in April.
Omar, a Somali immigrant who has a long history of inflammatory comments about the United States and Israel, had come under fire from conservatives after a video surfaced on Twitter which showed her characterizing 9/11 as “some people did something” during a March Council on American-Islamic Relations banquet in California.
Crenshaw criticized the Minnesota Democrat at the time, accusing her of “trivializing” the deadly attacks on American soil.
Omar responded by questioning Crenshaw’s reverence for the victims of 9/11 because he yet to offer his support for the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund. The attack was then parroted by Ocasio-Cortez, who asked the war vet what he was doing about terrorism.
Crenshaw, who called the questions about his patriotism a “new low,” later signed on as a co-sponsor of the legislation.
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