“I mean, you can read [the quote] again, but nowhere in that quote did I say that Jesus is not real. That’s a ridiculous statement,” Crenshaw said. Crenshaw’s tone and posture seemed to indicate that he did not believe the question was being asked in good faith.
Another person in the audience asked, “Is He the Son of God?”
“Of course, He’s the Son of God. Of course, He’s the Son of God, and, of course, He’s real,” Crenshaw replied.
“You can say two different things. You can say that on a podcast, and you can say this here,” the questioner pressed.
“On the podcast, no one understood it that way. I think you’re twisting it that way,” Crenshaw replied, and some in the crowd began to groan. “Which is not very Christian. It’s not, and I’m not going to have my faith questioned.”
“Thank you,” said the questioner as she returned to her seat, and Crenshaw again repeated, “I’m not going to have my faith questioned.”
Ellis, who is Crenshaw’s political opponent in the upcoming election, said of the exchange, “Tonight at the Montgomery County Tea Party meeting, @DanCrenshawTX was confronted by an 18 y/o girl about him calling Jesus a hero archetype.”
“He had an opportunity to build bridges & respond in love but, instead, he did this,” continued Ellis.
Parkinson, who is a fellow member of the GOP but apparently at odds with Crenshaw over a recent Twitter dispute between Crenshaw and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, said, “I don’t think Dan Crenshaw is gonna raise a lot of money off *this* video.” In the Twitter exchange with Greene, Crenshaw had advocated for using FEMA resources to bolster COVID-19 testing sites, which led Greene to accuse him of not being a real conservative.
Political lobbyist and commentator Alex Bruesewitz, who has referred to Crenshaw as a “RINO [Republican in name only]” who is “working hard to get more anti-Trump RINOs elected,” said, “Dan Crenshaw bullied a young girl last night for quoting him directly.”
It is not clear whether Ellis coordinated with the questioner to coax a negative response from Crenshaw. Nevertheless, the exchange and subsequent criticism of Crenshaw is indicative of a larger movement within the GOP to pressure elected officials to move away from more moderate policy stances and into the right wing. Those who are unwilling to do so are subject to added scrutiny and even personal attack from members of their own political party.
