Dan Crenshaw

Crenshaw is the host of Hold These Truths, a podcast he launched in February of 2020.

On May 24, 2019, Crenshaw co-sponsored a bill to extend time limits for claims under the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act.

In 2019, Crenshaw voiced opposition to the For the People Act of 2019. Crenshaw said the bill would "limit free speech drastically." Crenshaw also stated that the bill would use taxpayer money to "legalize" the kind of electoral fraud that occurred in the 2018 North Carolina's 9th congressional district election. PolitiFact rated Crenshaw's assertion concerning the North Carolina race "false," adding that "nothing in the bill that expands who can collect absentee ballots, allows people to fill out ballots for others, or loosens witnessing procedures for absentee ballots," which relate to the controversial election in North Carolina.

In 2019, Crenshaw has said that "climate change is occurring and that man-made emissions play a part in that. What isn't clear is how our actions will serve to reverse that warming trend, and what the cost-benefit outcome would be. Regardless, we should continue pursuing new green energy solutions that lessen our impact on the environment and create cleaner air and water." During his 2018 election campaign, Crenshaw's website made brief mention of global warming, applauding President Trump for withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords. Crenshaw described the agreement as "costly and meaningless." He went on to call the agreement virtue signaling and said it was not good policy. He also stated that, "We must use our money to develop better infrastructure." In 2018, Crenshaw called for a debate on the causes of climate change, adding, "We can't start off the conversation saying the climate is settled. The right way to have this conversation is to actually listen to what the science says on both sides."

In 2019, Crenshaw co-sponsored a resolution opposing President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, saying that it would embolden the Turkish military's assault on the Kurdish forces.

In the 2018 elections, Crenshaw ran for the United States House of Representatives in Texas's 2nd congressional district to succeed the retiring Ted Poe. He announced his candidacy for Congress in November 2017. Crenshaw credited national security analyst John Noonan for encouraging him to run for Congress. During an interview in February 2018, he stated that border security and immigration reform would be two of his election issues.

On the November 3 episode of Saturday Night Live, comedian Pete Davidson joked about the appearances of multiple candidates in the 2018 midterm elections, and described Crenshaw as looking like a "hit man in a porno movie" while adding that he lost his eye in "war or whatever." The joke received significant criticism, and on the following episode, Davidson and Crenshaw appeared on air together. Davidson offered an apology, which Crenshaw accepted. Crenshaw and others have speculated that the joke may have helped him win.

Crenshaw favors repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), describing it as an "unmitigated disaster." During his 2018 campaign, Crenshaw ran on a policy of allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, becoming one of a handful of Republicans to endorse what was primarily a progressive idea. By 2019, Crenshaw had retreated from this position.

During his 2018 election campaign, Crenshaw defended Trump's proposal to build a border wall on the Mexico–United States border. In a May 2019 appearance on The View, Crenshaw claimed that 80–90% of asylum seeker requests "don't have a valid asylum claim." While it is true that between 20 to 30 percent of asylum requests per annum have been granted since 2009, some of the rejected applications may still hold legal merit, and PolitiFact rated his statement as "false."

As a Navy SEAL, Crenshaw was awarded two Bronze Star Medals, the Purple Heart, and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with valor. He medically retired from military service in 2016 with the rank of lieutenant commander.

Crenshaw and Kevin Roberts advanced from the nine-candidate first-round of the Republican Party primary election to face each other in a second-round runoff election; Crenshaw received 155 votes more than Kathaleen Wall, a candidate who was backed by Senator Ted Cruz and Governor Greg Abbott. The lead-up to the runoff election was contentious. A super PAC, funded by Roberts' brother-in-law, Mark Lanier, focused on Crenshaw's 2015 statements that were critical of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, despite Roberts having also been critical of President Trump in the past. The ads also compared Crenshaw's policy proposals to the likes of President Barack Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders. Gaining the endorsement of Senator Tom Cotton, Crenshaw received national attention, appearing in print and television, including on Laura Ingraham's show on Fox Business.

Crenshaw is pro-life. Crenshaw believes that government should not be involved in regulating marriage and has expressed support for the legalization of same-sex marriage. In 2015, he took issue with people trying to suggest Christianity is as shocking and as violent as Islam, saying that “the worst thing modern Christianity stands for is anti-homosexual marriage, which is a far cry from sex slaves, sharia law and beheadings.”

Crenshaw married Tara Blake in 2013. He is a Methodist.

Crenshaw lost his right eye in 2012 during his third deployment when he was hit by an IED explosion in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. The blast destroyed his right eye, and he required surgery to save the vision in his left eye. He remained in the Navy for four years after the injury, and served his fourth and fifth tours of duty in Bahrain and South Korea.

While at Tufts, Crenshaw joined the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps and received an officer's commission in the U.S. Navy after graduation. Crenshaw received orders to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training (BUD/S) at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. After six months of training, Crenshaw graduated with BUD/S class 264. Crenshaw completed SEAL qualification training in June 2008 and received the 1130 designator as a Naval Special Warfare Officer, entitled to wear the Special Warfare Insignia. He served in the Navy SEALs for ten years, including five tours of duty, reaching the rank of lieutenant commander. His first deployment was to Fallujah, Iraq, where he joined SEAL Team Three. He was based out of Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in Coronado, California.

After high school, Crenshaw returned to the United States and attended Tufts University, graduating in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations. Later, after his decade of military service, Crenshaw went to Harvard University and studied public administration at the Kennedy School of Government, receiving an MPA degree in 2017.. He worked as a military legislative assistant for Congressman Pete Sessions.

Born to American parents in Aberdeen, Scotland, Crenshaw grew up in Katy, Texas. His mother died of cancer when he was ten years old. His father, Jim Crenshaw, is a petroleum engineer who worked internationally, and Crenshaw spent time growing up in Ecuador and Colombia, gaining proficiency in Spanish. He graduated from Colegio Nueva Granada high school in Bogotá in 2002.

Daniel Reed Crenshaw (born March 14, 1984) is an American politician and former United States Navy SEAL officer serving in the United States House of Representatives for Texas's 2nd congressional district since 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party.