Mocked by a liberal comedian on "Saturday Night Live," Texas-2 Republican House candidate Dan Crenshaw, a disabled U.S. veteran who wears an eye patch, does not want an apology, saying the joke "wasn't even funny," just "mean-spirited."
"I want us to get away from this culture where we demand apologies every time someone misspeaks," Crenshaw, who is told TMZ. "I think that would be very healthy for our nation to go in that direction. We don't need to be outwardly outraged. I don't need to demand an apologies from them.
"They can do whatever they want. They're feeling the heat from around the country right now, and that's fine."
Crenshaw is a former Navy SEAL who lost his eye when an IED exploded during his service in Afghanistan. Crenshaw is running against Democrat Todd Litton in Texas' 2nd Congressional District for the seat left open by Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas.
"I would like [Peter Davidson] and 'Saturday Night Live' to recognize something, which is that veterans across the country probably don't feel as though their wounds received in battle should be the subject of a bad punchline for a bad joke," Crenshaw added.
"And here's the real atrocity in all this: It wasn't even funny. Right? It was not original. It was not funny. It was mean-spirited and that's how I feel about it."
Crenshaw might have received some positive bump from the negative publicity, but Litton did tweet a rebuke of the attack.
"No matter what side of the aisle you're on, Dan's military service and sacrifice for our country are to be admired and appreciated. Period," Litton tweeted Sunday.