Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Republican, was criticized after a video recorded at a Montgomery County Tea Party fundraiser showed him snapping at a young woman of indeterminate age after she questioned him about a quote he made on a podcast.
Conflicting reports list her age from 10 years-old up to 18 years-old.
Crenshaw, who'd described Jesus Christ as "a hero archetype" during a 2020 appearance on the Jocko Podcast chastised the young lady, demanding she not "question" his faith.
The video of the exchange, first shared by Scott T. Parkinson, who most recently served as the Deputy Executive Director to Governor-Elect Ron DeSantis’ transition team in Tallahassee, Florida, garnered hundreds of thousands of views.
You can watch what happened below.
The footage shows the woman questioning Crenshaw, seeking clarification for his statement about Jesus being an "archetype," a designation Crenshaw made during the podcast reserved for the comic superhero Superman, former President Ronald Reagan and civil rights activist Rosa Parks.
She said:
"I've seen you claim to be a Christian. You've talked about God, but when you claim Jesus to be a hero archetype, you not only lied about Jesus not being real, but you lied about being a Christian. I can't wrap my head around this."
Crenshaw responded by chastising the young woman for not adding a period after Jesus' name in the list of people named, telling her "Don't question my faith" before declaring it "ridiculous" that anyone would presume he is "saying Jesus is not real."
Crenshaw reaffirmed his belief Jesus is the son of God when questioned by another member of the audience.
But the young woman pressed on, circling back to her original line of questioning:
"You can say two different things. You can say that on a podcast, and you can say this here."
Crenshaw became defensive again and accused the young woman of not exhibiting "Christ-like" behavior:
"On the podcast, nobody would have understood it that way. I think you're twisting it that way, which is not very Christ-like, which is not very Christian. It's not. It's not, and I'm not going to have my faith questioned."
The video soon went viral, attracting the attention of Jameson Ellis, a conservative challenging Crenshaw's seat in the House.
Ellis said Crenshaw failed to respond to "an opportunity to build bridges and respond in love."
Others have criticized Crenshaw for what has been widely perceived as rude and defensive behavior.
Crenshaw has previously clashed with members of his own party, calling members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus "grifters" and "performance artists."
He has also faced considerable opposition from the opposition, as when he voted against impeaching former President Donald Trump for inciting against an insurrection against Congress because he felt Democrats had "rushed" the process.
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