Houston Chronicle by Jeremy Wallace Sep. 17, 2021
Bad blood has developed between Dan Crenshaw and Lizzie Fletcher. How did we get here?
Ever since Republican Dan Crenshaw and Democrat Lizzie Fletcher entered Congress together in early 2019, the Houston-area representatives have avoided clashes with one another while occasionally issuing joint press releases that contain mutual praise.
But that all changed Monday during an exchange that drew in at least three other members of Congress, brought a rebuke from a House committee chairman and resulted in Crenshaw taking to Twitter to slam Fletcher on an entirely unrelated point.
It started when an agitated Crenshaw attacked some Democrats during a marathon meeting of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is working on the massive “Build Back Better” spending bill that Democrats are pushing. Republicans offered an amendment that could have potentially blocked 911 funding for police in states where cities have considered reducing funding for law enforcement, as the city of Austin did last year after the death of George Floyd.
After several Democrats objected to the amendment as political theater, Crenshaw went off on them like he was on a radio talk show. The former Navy SEAL, a regular on conservative talk shows who has a big presence on social media, accused Democrats of lying and said they and their policies were the reasons for a rise in crime in American cities.
In Fletcher, Crenshaw couldn’t have drawn a more different combatant. During her time in Congress, Fletcher has typically worked behind the scenes, rarely doing national television interviews and often using social media to offer nonpartisan takes on issues. But there she was on Monday immediately calling out Crenshaw for engaging in nonserious partisan “gotcha” tactics.
Crenshaw started it all when he explained why Republicans wanted to make Democrats vote on a Defund the Police amendment.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/What-Dan-Crenshaw-said-to-trigger-Lizzie-16465821.php
