Once upon a time, quite a few years ago, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter had an apt description of a certain kind of soi-disant thug who picks fights in public, but only in public: “You know the type / loud as a motorbike / but wouldn’t bust a grape in a fruit fight.”
One would not have guessed, when he was first elected to Congress in 2018, that GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw would find himself among this class of individual. A former Navy SEAL, who lost an eye to an improvised explosive device during his time in Afghanistan, Crenshaw had admirable bona fides as a vet, as a scholar (Tufts and Harvard), and — at least initially — as a conservative.
As his time in Congress wore on, Crenshaw began rankling a lot of conservatives. His first major beef was with Tucker Carlson — and by extension Fox News — who he disagreed with over funding for Ukraine in their war against Russia. This wasn’t unusual — in fact, Tucker was very much the outlier at that point in the conflict — but it was a preview of things to come.
He made enemies of the House Freedom Caucus but came to the defense of ultra-RINO and Jan. 6 kangaroo committee member Adam Kinzinger, a former Illinois representative who’s now a professional NeverTrumper.
He ran for the House Homeland Security Committee chair against Freedom Caucus member Rep. Mark Green in 2023, a bid that he lost. His rivalry with Tucker has continued — and he’s begun to spar with an ever-increasing number of conservatives, a disconcerting sign that Kinzinger may have left the lower chamber, but he left an unexpected replacement for himself behind. (During the 2023 House speaker fight, Crenshaw went far enough to call conservatives who weren’t keen on former Speaker Kevin McCarthy “traitors,” strong language indeed — especially when you consider the disappointment that McCarthy quite predictably ended up being in the position.)
And then came hot mic video of Crenshaw, during an interview with conservative U.K. outlet GB News, saying that if he ever met up with Tucker Carlson, he’d kill him.
To which Tucker Carlson responded: Fine, how about an interview instead, though? I’ll give you my address.
Crenshaw’s response regarding whether he’d threatened to kill Carlson: “lol, no.” And as for that interview? No word as of yet. Apparently, that grape ain’t gonna be busted in any fruit fight.
So, first, the hot mic video, which has been taken off of X several times after it was originally posted. In it, the GB News host asks Crenshaw if he’d ever met Carlson.
“We’ve talked a lot on Twitter,” Crenshaw said.
Then, as he stood up: “If I ever meet him, I’ll f***ing kill him.”
WARNING: The following video contains vulgar language that some viewers may offensive.
BREAKING: The video of Dan Crenshaw THREATENING Tucker Carlson has been DELETED by the original poster.
They are trying to erase it.
I’m sure Crenshaw would appreciate it if you didn’t repost this…. pic.twitter.com/vkSiYdPTUt
— Jack (@jackunheard) February 25, 2025
Rep. Dan Crenshaw: A man who fought for our basic freedoms, like the freedom to have your life threatened by former Navy SEAL Dan Crenshaw if you have an opinion that isn’t his.
Now, again, I doubt this is serious (see again the quote from Mr. Z indicating just how earnestly I would take this rhetoric, were I Tucker or anyone else), but it’s also not something an elected representative should be saying, hot mic or not.
The media still hasn’t gotten over the whole Trump “bloodbath” hoax, so you would think that a Republican saying, in regards to Tucker Carlson, “if I ever meet him, I’ll f***ing kill him” would set off a ton of klaxons. But again, Crenshaw is (alas) turning into the right kind of Republican for their tastes.
As the controversy brewed, Elon Musk inserted himself into it and asked, “Why is Crenshaw homicidal regarding Tucker?”
Tucker responded, noting he was more than willing to find out.
“Why don’t you come sit for an interview and we’ll see how you do? I’ll send you my address, @DanCrenshawTX,” he said.
Why don’t you come sit for an interview and we’ll see how you do? I’ll send you my address, @DanCrenshawTX.
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 24, 2025
No immediate response, obviously.
Then, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia asked whether Crenshaw threatened to kill Carlson, like he was caught on video doing.
“lol, no,” came the response:
lol, no.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) February 24, 2025
It’s worth noting that Carlson, during an interview with conservative pundit and former Tucker Carlson producer Eduardo Neret a few weeks ago, noted that Crenshaw was an unbalanced individual and “I hope he gets help. I mean that.”
Here’s Tucker on Dan Crenshaw in an interview he did with me a few weeks ago:
“He’s out of control. And I think that he’s a really volatile person. I hope he gets help. I mean that.” pic.twitter.com/dUTMyl7pQM
— Eduardo Neret (@eduneret) February 25, 2025
He does, in fact, need that.
There are very few people in the world it’s even worth threatening with death even in kinda-jest, and those are a sex traffickers or murderers. But a conservative Episcopalian who wears blazers and like to fish? Not so much, and certainly not over opinions. Carlson says a lot of stuff that people disagree with — including plenty of conservatives. That’s no excuse for this.
Crenshaw has been one of his targets, yes. That being said, this guy is also a former Navy SEAL who’s seen combat and lost an eye to an IED, and he comes home and gets elected to Congress, all to … threaten Tucker with death? Oh, but “lol, no.” He didn’t really, because he’s as loud as a motorbike, but — well, you know the rest.
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