It was a joke that made no one laugh. "Saturday Night Live" star and Ariana Grande's ex-fiancé Pete Davidson guest starred on Weekend Update this weekend to make fun of Dan Crenshaw, a Republican congressional candidate in Texas and a former Navy SEAL who lost an eye while serving in Afghanistan.
"You may be surprised to hear he's a congressional candidate from Texas, and not a hitman in a porno movie," Davidson said, before adding, "I'm sorry, I know he lost his eye in war or whatever."
Kenan Thompson, Davidson's "SNL" costar, explained on the "TODAY" show Monday why he thinks Davidson's joke "missed the mark."
Thompson shared that his father is a Vietnam veteran and said he would "never personally" go there to make that kind of joke. He noted that stand up comedians are vulnerable to get into this kind of trouble.
"It’s tough when you’re fishing for jokes," Thompson said. There are "no filters" in the world of stand up comics.
At the same time...
"When you miss the mark you’re offending people so you have to be a little more aware, in my opinion."
"I think he definitely missed the mark," Thompson added. "I think he was also commenting on the fact that maybe the joke didn’t land as hard as he wanted to as opposed to I don’t care about veterans. I think Pete is a humble dude and he has a big heart."
Media outlets like CNN didn't laugh either.
"Disgusting," "despicable," and "100 percent tasteless" were a few of the adjectives a CNN panel used to describe Davidson's joke."That candidate should get an apology," the panelists agreed.
Crenshaw would appreciate one too.
Good rule in life: I try hard not to offend; I try harder not to be offended. That being said, I hope @nbcsnl recognizes that vets don’t deserve to see their wounds used as punchlines for bad jokes.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) November 4, 2018