Last week, Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL and combat veteran, released another action video, this time in support of Republican Senate candidates, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, in Georgia. The deliberately over-the-top video shows Crenshaw parachuting into Georgia and fighting dopey Antifa activists.

The future of the U.S. Senate, and the Republic, hangs in the balance.

I found the video – ‘Georgia Reloaded’ – entertaining, if a bit long at times, and effective to rally the conservative base in Georgia.

But apparently, others disagreed.

In a Tweet of his own, retired Gen. Raymond Thomas, a former head of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), dissed Crenshaw’s video, calling the video “embarrassing” and said he thought it was a “Saturday Night Live” skit.

The general served in several combat operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and parts of Central America. Thomas retired in March 2019.

The “Georgia Reloaded” video follows Crenshaw’s similar ‘Texas Reloaded” video released in November for the election. Crenshaw, a Republican, represents Texas’ 2nd District. Business Insider reports that despite his macho military video, his eye patch is real.

“In 2012, on his third deployment to the Middle East as a member of SEAL Team 3, he was wounded by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. He lost his right eye.”

The Texas video bills itself as the “greatest joint campaign ad in history.” In it, Business Insider describes, Crenshaw is shown receiving a secret mission to “save Texas.” Crenshaw then “parachutes into his state, where he recruits a team of local conservative leaders, all of whom have national-security or military backgrounds.”

The Georgia video takes the Texas video idea a bit further. BI continues:

In the “Georgia Reloaded” video, Crenshaw goes on another mission to combat “far-left activists” the video identifies as lawmakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, among others, by rallying support for “American patriots,” in this case Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.

Crenshaw also battles actors playing members of Antifa, a loose federation of left-wing ‘anti-fascist’ (aka – fascist) activists.

Crenshaw’s response to the criticism? “Donations raised from this video? Over $100,000 so far,” Crenshaw tweeted. “Driving the left absolutely insane? Priceless.”

Is Crenshaw’s video embarrassing, or entertaining and effective? Or both? We report. You decide.

Paul Crespo

Paul Crespo is the Managing Editor of American Defense News. A defense and national security expert, he served as a Marine Corps officer and as a military attaché with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at US embassies worldwide. Paul holds degrees from Georgetown, London, and Cambridge Universities. He is also CEO of SPECTRE Global Risk, a security advisory firm, and President of the Center for American Defense Studies, a national security think tank.