Kenan Thompson Says 'SNL' Co-Star Pete Davidson 'Missed the Mark' With Veteran Joke

Kenan Thompson has some thoughts on his Saturday Night Live co-star Pete Davidson’s zinger for Dan Crenshaw, a Texan who’s running for office. He also happens to be a veteran who lost an eye in the line of duty.

On the most recent episode, Davidson visited "Weekend Update" where took some jabs at a number of politicians, including Crenshaw. When an image of a Republican congressional candidate sporting his eyepatch was shown, Davidson commented, “You may be surprised to hear that he’s a congressional candidate from Texas, and not a hitman in a porno movie.”

During a visit to the Today show on Monday, Thompson was asked how he felt about the joke. He responded by stating that his co-star “missed the mark.”

"It’s tough when you're fishing for jokes, like that’s how stand-ups feel, that there's no real filters out there in the world when you’re trying to go for a great joke," Thompson, the son of a Vietnam War veteran, explained. "But at the same time, when you miss the mark, you’re offending people. So you have to ... really be a little more aware." 

Thompson also defended Davidson, stating, "Pete's a very ... humble dude and he has a big heart. I don’t think he goes out to offend people."

Crenshaw has already responded to the 24-year-old SNL cast member’s ribbing with a statement.

“I want us to get away from this culture where we demand apologies for every time a person misspeaks. I think that would be very healthy for our nation, to go in that direction,” he said in a video response, via Time magazine. “But I would like him and Saturday Night Live to recognize something. Which is that veterans across the country probably don’t feel as though their wounds they received in battle should be the subject of a bad punchline for a bad joke. And here’s the real atrocity in all this: it wasn’t even funny.”

He also appeared on Fox & Friends where he dismissed any notion of an apology, instead hinting that NBC should donate to a veterans charity in order to make it right.

"They certainly crossed the line, but their apology won’t mean anything to me," he said. "I think what they should do is maybe pull their money together and donate to some veterans charities out there who could really use some help."

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