Originally reported by Newsweek

Dan Crenshaw lost his primary by a landslide, and instead of doing the dignified thing — walking away quietly and maybe doing some soul-searching — he sat down with Newsweek to deliver the most delusional exit interview in modern political history.

According to Crenshaw, the reason he got obliterated wasn’t that voters in his own district despise him. No, it was “smears and conspiracies.” It was Democrats spending a million dollars on attack ads. It was the fact that only 20 percent of Republicans bothered to show up. It was everyone’s fault but his.

This is a man who had exactly one job: represent the conservative voters of Texas’s 2nd Congressional District. Instead, he spent his time in Congress trading stocks like a hedge fund manager, voting for gun control, and positioning himself as the “reasonable Republican” that CNN could trot out whenever they needed someone to bash the party’s base. His constituents noticed. And they fired him.

The “Eyepatch McCain” Problem

Steve Toth, the man who beat him, had a nickname for Crenshaw that stuck: “Eyepatch McCain.” It’s brutal, but it’s accurate. Like his late Senate counterpart, Crenshaw built his brand on military service and then used that brand as a shield against legitimate criticism of his actual voting record. Question his positions? You’re attacking a veteran. Point out his stock trades? You’re spreading misinformation.

Crenshaw even threatened Fox News with a defamation lawsuit over their coverage of his stock trading. Let that sink in. A Republican congressman threatening to sue Fox News. That tells you everything you need to know about where this man’s loyalties actually lie.

Trump Saw Right Through Him

Perhaps the most telling detail from the whole saga: Dan Crenshaw was the only Texas House Republican who didn’t receive a Trump endorsement. Not a single word of support from the president. In Texas. As a Republican. That’s not bad luck — that’s a verdict. Trump, who hands out endorsements like candy on Halloween, looked at Crenshaw and said, “No thanks.”

And yet in his Newsweek interview, Crenshaw still can’t bring himself to understand why. He blames the voters for not showing up. He blames outside money. He blames misinformation. He does everything except look in the mirror and confront the obvious truth: he was a fraud, and the voters figured it out.

Good Riddance

The conservative movement has no room for people who use their military service as body armor against accountability while governing like Democrats. Crenshaw’s loss wasn’t a tragedy. It was a correction. Texas’s 2nd District decided they wanted actual conservative representation, not a media darling who plays one on TV.

Dan Crenshaw can write all the post-mortems he wants. He can blame the voters, blame Trump, blame the media. But the scoreboard doesn’t lie. He’s a massive loser, and deep down, even he knows it.