Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Republican, was criticized after a video recorded at a Montgomery County Tea Party fundraiser showed him snapping at a young woman of indeterminate age after she questioned him about a quote he made on a podcast.
Conflicting reports list her age from 10 years-old up to 18 years-old.
Crenshaw, who'd described Jesus Christ as "a hero archetype" during a 2020 appearance on the Jocko Podcast chastised the young lady, demanding she not "question" his faith.
The video of the exchange, first shared by Scott T. Parkinson, who most recently served as the Deputy Executive Director to Governor-Elect Ron DeSantis’ transition team in Tallahassee, Florida, garnered hundreds of thousands of views.
You can watch what happened below.
I don\u2019t think Dan Crenshaw is gonna raise a lot of money off *this* video.pic.twitter.com/YJyLdUhTke— Scott T. Parkinson (@Scott T. Parkinson) 1642471671
The footage shows the woman questioning Crenshaw, seeking clarification for his statement about Jesus being an "archetype," a designation Crenshaw made during the podcast reserved for the comic superhero Superman, former President Ronald Reagan and civil rights activist Rosa Parks.
She said:
"I've seen you claim to be a Christian. You've talked about God, but when you claim Jesus to be a hero archetype, you not only lied about Jesus not being real, but you lied about being a Christian. I can't wrap my head around this."
Crenshaw responded by chastising the young woman for not adding a period after Jesus' name in the list of people named, telling her "Don't question my faith" before declaring it "ridiculous" that anyone would presume he is "saying Jesus is not real."
Crenshaw reaffirmed his belief Jesus is the son of God when questioned by another member of the audience.
But the young woman pressed on, circling back to her original line of questioning:
"You can say two different things. You can say that on a podcast, and you can say this here."
Crenshaw became defensive again and accused the young woman of not exhibiting "Christ-like" behavior:
"On the podcast, nobody would have understood it that way. I think you're twisting it that way, which is not very Christ-like, which is not very Christian. It's not. It's not, and I'm not going to have my faith questioned."
The video soon went viral, attracting the attention of Jameson Ellis, a conservative challenging Crenshaw's seat in the House.
Ellis said Crenshaw failed to respond to "an opportunity to build bridges and respond in love."
Tonight at the Montgomery County Tea Party meeting, @DanCrenshawTX was confronted by an 18 y/o girl about him calling Jesus a hero archetype. \n\nHe had an opportunity to build bridges & respond in love but, instead, he did this\u2026\n\n#JamesonEllisForCongress #FireDCfromDCpic.twitter.com/rY4rmI4YDU— Jameson Ellis For Congress (@Jameson Ellis For Congress) 1642483756
Others have criticized Crenshaw for what has been widely perceived as rude and defensive behavior.
Set aside of the substance of the question and consider the condescension, defensiveness, and arrogance here being directed at a child.https://twitter.com/ScottTParkinson/status/1483259811491987458\u00a0\u2026— Rachel Bovard (@Rachel Bovard) 1642535022
literally just could have said "I didn't mean to imply jesus wasn't real".\n\nThis guy was in literal combat but gets rattled by the most easy questions.https://twitter.com/ScottTParkinson/status/1483259811491987458\u00a0\u2026— Anonymous dog account (@Anonymous dog account) 1642533662
@DanCrenshawTX What a prick. Tough guy with a elected title going to make young constituents band together to primary your asshttps://twitter.com/thejamesonellis/status/1483310501480255492\u00a0\u2026— Freetoad (@Freetoad) 1642535493
Tough guy @DanCrenshawTX gets owned by a young girl and pitches a hissy fit. At no point should any grown ass man talk to a child that way. Esp when she was direct quoting him. Seems Dan may need anger management classes.https://twitter.com/ScottTParkinson/status/1483259811491987458\u00a0\u2026— RacerxJax \ud83c\udf08 #VaccinatedNotRepublican (@RacerxJax \ud83c\udf08 #VaccinatedNotRepublican) 1642560807
Did you hear a flushing sound, I did it was Dan's political aspirations going down the toilet .https://twitter.com/thejamesonellis/status/1483310501480255492\u00a0\u2026— its time (@its time) 1642539250
Man this guy, Dan Crenshaw, continues to bury himself fast.https://twitter.com/thejamesonellis/status/1483310501480255492\u00a0\u2026— All American (@All American) 1642542765
The worst kind of veteran. An actual traitor to what we thought we were fighting for at the time. Disgusting and pathetic human.https://twitter.com/ScottTParkinson/status/1483259811491987458\u00a0\u2026— Mac (@Mac) 1642527500
I questioned his intent 2 years ago. He flip flops and now we can see his true colors come out. Anger towards this young lady for quoting his words? He\u2019s a disgusting human and is NOT for the American people.\n#StandUnited #WeThePeoplehttps://twitter.com/thejamesonellis/status/1483310501480255492\u00a0\u2026— Amy Michaud (@Amy Michaud) 1642523271
Crenshaw has previously clashed with members of his own party, calling members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus "grifters" and "performance artists."
He has also faced considerable opposition from the opposition, as when he voted against impeaching former President Donald Trump for inciting against an insurrection against Congress because he felt Democrats had "rushed" the process.