Pete Davidson apologizes to Congressman-elect Dan Crenshaw on 'SNL'

Finally, something everyone can agree on, including Republicans or Democrats, Yankee or Mets fans, or even "Saturday Night Live" ones and all those others who for years and years (and years) have said, "'SNL' used to be better when I was a kid":

"SNL" in fact did something special last night — it also did something funny and unexpectedly moving, which never happens here — Pete Davidson apologized to Dan Crenshaw, the Texas Republican who won a seat in the House in last Tuesday's midterms.

This very special (and very much expected) apology arrived toward  the end of "Weekend Update," where Davidson began, "In what I'm sure is a huge shock for people who know me, I made a poor choice last week."

Laughter. "Nah I did."

"I made a joke about Lt. Commander Dan Crenshaw and on behalf of the show and myself, I apologize."

He continued, "my poor mom. Can you imagine being Pete Davidson's mom? It can't be easy when everyone is mad at your son and your roommate."  

And he continued: "No, I mean this from the bottom of my heart, I made a poor choice of words. The man's a war hero and deserves all the respect in the world, and if any good came from this, it was that for one day, the left and the right finally came together to agree on something: That I'm a (expletive)."

Then Crenshaw himself arrives, and scooted next to him at the "Update" anchor desk: "You think?" he said. 

Crenshaw, you'll recall, was the former Navy SEAL who lost his right eye during an IED attack in Afghanistan. Of this patch, Davidson quipped last week, “You may be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate in Texas and not a hit man in a porno movie.”

There was almost immediate backlash, notably from Crenshaw who tweeted, "Good rule in life — I try hard not to offend, I try harder not to be offended. That being said, I hope [“SNL”] recognizes that vets don’t deserve to see their wounds used as punchlines for bad jokes.” Davidson's own castmate, Kenan Thompson, said the joke went too far, and that he wouldn't have gone there.

Message received — and received some more as Davidson's joke hit the news cycle to become one of those clickbait "hot topics" accorded far (far) more attention and heat than it deserved.

Nevertheless, Davidson and "SNL" were expected to say something Saturday night. Crenshaw's appearance was the nice surprise. "Thanks for coming," said Davidson. In a precooked response, Crenshaw said, "Thanks for making a Republican look good."

Then the ring tone on his cell went off — part of a joke you could've written yourself because it was Ariana Grande's "Breathin." (Davidson and Grande — also very publicly — recently broke their engagement.)

OK, funny. Then the payback continued. Crenshaw got to make quips about pictures of Davidson, including one of Davidson next to Martin Short from "The Santa Claus Story."

"By the way, one of these people was actually good on 'SNL.'"

Then "SNL" effectively gave the show over to Crenshaw, who went all "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

"Seriously, there are a lot of lessons to learn here, not that just the left and right can agree on some things or that Americans can forgive one another and still see the good in each other. This is Veterans Day, which means it's a good time for every American to connect with a veteran and maybe say 'thanks for your service' although I'd encourage you to say something else. Tell a veteran, 'never forget. You are implying that as an American, you are in it with them, not separated by some imaginary barrier between civilians and veterans, but connected together as grateful fellow Americans who will never forget the sacrifices made by vets past and present, and never forget those we lost on 9/11, heroes like Pete's father."

Davidson's father, Scott, 33, was assigned to Ladder Co. 118 in Brooklyn Heights, which responded after the second tower was hit. He died on the 15th floor of the north tower as it collapsed.

As Crenshaw closed his speech, Davidson said, "and that is from both of us."

By Verne J Gay

Verne.Gay@newsday.com@vernejgay

Verne J Gay is the television critic