Did Rep. Dan Crenshaw Shout at a 10-Year-Old Girl at an Event?

The young woman who questioned Crenshaw was 18, not 10.

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While at a Tea Party event last week, Rep. Dan Crenshaw clashed with a young woman who questioned his faith. Video of the interaction went viral, with many social media users, political pundits, and news outlets claiming that the woman was a 10-year-old girl.

https://twitter.com/KaivanShroff/status/1483462371989499907

The basis for this claim is a comment made in the video, where an audience member shouts that the questioner is 10 years old. Crenshaw’s primary opponent Jameson Ellis tweeted a video of the same interaction from a different angle, identifying the questioner as an 18-year-old woman. Ellis also stated that he spoke with the woman afterward and she confirmed her age to him, and tweeted a picture with her. In a statement released after claims that she was a plant for the Ellis campaign went viral, Ellis identified her as a supporter of his campaign and said again that she was 18 years old.

A conservative Christian Texas publication interviewed the woman, saying that she preferred to remain anonymous but confirming that she was 18 years old.

Crenshaw later told The Daily Beast that he “probably [regretted the incident] a little.” 


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  3. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    He comes off better than she does in that video.

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    Cthocas

    The details Alex confirms here were known pretty much immediately after the event last week, even as the MAGA grifter crowd ostentatiously soiled its collective pants over it on Twitter. To be blunt, you have to be something of an idiot to believe what the woman said constituted any sort of intelligent questioning, and Crenshaw was right to snap at what was either a disingenuous gotcha or a dangerously stupid slander. Perhaps his response wasn't the most appropriate; telling her to go learn how to diagram sentences would have been better, I suppose.

    (Sorry, but the guns-and-Jesus corner of the Trumpy fever swamp is one I find particularly infuriating. Sanctimonious hayseeds like Jameson Ellis couldn't tell you the difference between Arius and Athanasius, but they make questioning the faith of others part of their PR campaign. It's just filth all the way down.)

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    Kelvinktsang

    If anything, I'm more surprised by the crowd shouting at Dan Crenshaw. You can hear people calling him a Moron and jeering him pretty harshly. Are these townhall meetings so vitriolic?? Honestly, if Dan was black or Asian, and he made his comments to the girl, and the crowd reacted the way it did, I would almost assume that crowd was over-reacting because they're racist. But man, talk about white-on-white crime here!!! haha (BTW, I'm not defending Dan's politics. Just saying the blowback he received from the crowd seemed way over the top.)

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    Alli Isaacson

    This is all quite silly, but for a guy who said “I don’t think he knows what he really believes. I don’t think this man has very secure foundations or principles that will drive his thinking” of Joe Biden the immediate “don’t question my faith” is a pretty ridiculous response. “You’ve taken my words out of context, my faith is between me and Jesus and certainly is my guiding principle” would have been much more appropriate. Quite honestly that was pretty defensive answer to what was really not a hard question to side step.

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  7. Lorddenry

    I find myself wanting more from this story. I generally like Dan Crenshaw, but I don't know whether to chastise him, or exonerate him here, precisely because there is no context around this interaction.

    What was the temperature of the room prior to this exchange? This is a Tea Party event, with Jameson Ellis, his political opponent present. The immediate reaction of some people in the room to Crenshaw's response to the girl makes it clear that they were not all in his camp. Was there contention already in the room prior to this interaction, or was this a stand alone Q and A.? Did this question come out of the blue, or was it the final straw in an already existing tension?

    And while politicians deal daily with having their words twisted and re-invented in news and social mediums, it is quite a different scenario to have your words manipulated and be called a liar in a public setting in front of your peers. We are all, after all, human.

    But I find the Fact Check here totally inadequate, for it only resolves the question of the girls age. I need The Dispatch to do what The Dispatch does, which is why it has become my most trusted voice in these matters. I need them to write the full story here, to provide missing context.

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    Israel Bigelow

    I like Crenshaw but that was a terrible answer even if the girl was 18 and not 10. I don't think it was a yell (like the clickbait twitter clip says) but it was still way too aggressive. He should have just clarified what he meant and reaffirmed his faith for any doubters. Being an indignant with voters for questioning you never comes across good whether it's about religion or not.

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    Kelvinktsang

    Definitely wouldn't call that shouting....he probably should've just called it out as a leading question and then ignored her, but we've all had situations that we probably would've handled differently......still, he definitely didn't yell/shout...

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    David Chen

    I actually listened to most of Crenshaw's audiobook and vaguely remember that line. I don't really get what the girl is asking. I don't really get Crenshaw's response. I definitely don't get the framing from the media that is is 'shouting'. As far as I can tell, Crenshaw likes Jesus?

    Is everyone insane or am I just not getting it?

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      Scarlette Tarte

      I think it was a bad response to a poorly asked question. And that is it. Mountain made of molehill on both sides.

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      Dave T

      You're on point. This whole thing is ridiculous, and a total waste of our time. The only redeeming part is that your comment helped me feel better about myself.

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    3. Ingenero.lux

      It was quiet, and probably only makes sense to someone from a very specific fundamentalist Christian sect or mindset. I don’t quite get where she or anyone else got the idea that “archetype” means “I don’t think this person was real”, but I’ve sadly heard far weirder claims. Far, far weirder. And Crenshaw effectively said “I love Jesus, I’m not here to argue my faith. Ask me about politics.” While a dingbat booed him for it.

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        David Chen

        That's what she meant?! Wow. Props to Crenshaw for not biting her head off. I woulda asked in the following order:

        "What the F are you talking about?"
        "Are you F-ing serious?"
        "Are you a F-ing moron?"

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        1. Ingenero.lux

          What I could get after the initial “I’m a Christian” spiel, something something “…being a Christian, you talk about God, but when you claim Jesus is a heroic archetype, you not only lied about Jesus not being real, you lied about being a Christian.” She then tries to give context, the video skips (something about all of us needing a heroic archetype), then it shows when he gets annoyed.

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          Andrew

          She’s the archetype of an 18 year old

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