Rep. Dan Crenshaw, who lost an eye while serving as a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan, was harassed at a GOP event by far-right protesters who yelled “Eyepatch McCain” at the congressman.
Crenshaw, 38, has been struck by the insult – a nod to the late moderate Republican Senator John McCain – since Tucker Carlson first mentioned the nickname in mid-May.
The congressman was approached by a group of hecklers, including Alex Stein, a self-proclaimed “comedian and social activist,” and others who witnesses told Mediaite were Proud Boys at the Texas Republican Party convention on Saturday.
The video, which Stein himself tweeted, shows Stein and others approaching Crenshaw at the event.
“Eye patch McCain! Hey eyepatch McCain! Check out Eyepatch McCain here! You are a globalist RINO!’ He is heard yelling at the congressman before being led away.
One of Crenshaw’s associates was allegedly pushed during the protest, although the protesters did not have physical contact with the congressman.
Crenshaw hit back on Twitter later on Saturday, calling Stein an “angry little boy” who “can’t get girlfriends.”
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, who lost an eye while serving in Afghanistan, was verbally abused at a GOP event by far-right and Proud Boys-affiliated protesters, with one earning the congressman the recurring nickname “Eyepatch McCain.”
Crenshaw hit back on Twitter later on Saturday, calling Stein an “angry little boy” who “can’t get girlfriends.”
“Eye patch McCain! Hey eyepatch McCain! Check out Eyepatch McCain here! You are a globalist RINO!’ Stein can be heard yelling at the congressman
Stein quoted Crenshaw on Twitter, noting, “Dan I’m 2 feet taller than you mate… lol.”
Carlson first used the name on May 16 — a nod to the occasional dovish views of the late Arizona Senator McCain — after Crenshaw criticized those who did not support military aid to Ukraine, according to The Daily Beast.
“You know, the more I think about it, it takes a lot of sass for eyepatch McCain to attack mothers worried about baby food as pro-Russia,” Carlson said on his Fox News show.
The columnist and McCain’s daughter Meghan slammed Carlson at the time.
This is just rubbish,” McCain tweeted. “Nevertheless, I’m sure @DanCrenshawTX doesn’t mind the comparison.”
In response to this latest puff of dust, McCain retweeted both Crenshaw’s response and a tweet from CNN host Jake Tapper, who described it as “[a]absolutely disgusting that the far right turned a Navy SEAL’s war wound into a lame attempt at mockery.
Another Twitter user later accused Crenshaw of being a “World Economic Forum sell-off.”
Crenshaw, previously a popular target of liberals to the point where then-SNL cast member Pete Davidson publicly apologized to him for mocking his eyepatch after conservatives, including Carlson, ripped the comedian has been since under fire from the far right.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was after Crenwhaw when he appeared on Fox News calling for federal intervention to deal with the rapid spread of the Omicron virus variant.
“So the federal government should again use their FEMA resources to strengthen many of these testing sites and open new testing sites,” Crenshaw said.
Greene, who was suspended from Twitter on Jan. 2, slammed his remarks on Instagram. She said federal agencies shouldn’t be testing for “sneezing, coughing and runny noses” — which describes the mildest form of a virus that can also hospitalize or kill people with severe breathing problems.
Crenshaw wrote in response, “Hey, Marjorie, if suggesting we should follow Trump policies rather than Biden’s mandates makes you angry, then you may be a Democrat — or just an idiot.”
He followed up on her in his “victim” attack – and accused her of hyping up such incidents to increase her own fundraising and notoriety. They voted to remove her from committee assignments for some of her earlier statements.
Crenshaw wrote: “That Marjorie scoffed at the idea of supporting anti-censorship legislation shows her true intent: to remain a victim. She doesn’t want solutions and she doesn’t [sic] take care if you get censored. She just wants to be a victim so she can keep asking you for campaign contributions. It’s a scam.’
Greene hit back on conservative media platform Gettr: “Dan Crenshaw, who spends more time attacking America First Republicans because he (not so secretly) hates Trump, is talking about a bill to ‘hold big tech accountable !“; but is the same kind of toothless bill the Paul Ryan guys are trying to sell to make it look like they’re doing something,” she wrote.