Washington(CNN) A Republican congressman-elect who was the target of an insensitive "Saturday Night Live" joke said Wednesday that entertainers and politicians, including President Donald Trump, should tone down their divisive rhetoric and not "attack someone's core."
Dan Crenshaw -- who lost his right eye in 2012 while serving as a Navy SEAL in Iraq -- urged athletes and comedians Wednesday to "take a break from politics."
"Please don't politicize your comedy in a way that is just mean-spirited," he told CNN's Alisyn Camerota on "New Day." "And that's what happened this weekend, but it happens a lot more than just that. I think the American people could use a break."
"I'm going to try to be part of the solution there, not part of the problem," he continued. "And by that I mean, don't attack someone's core, don't attack someone's intent if you disagree with them."
The Houston-area congressman-elect also said that Trump should use less incendiary speech.
"I would always call for him to tone down the rhetoric sometimes and lower the temperature," Crenshaw said. "It would certainly help."
But Crenshaw also lamented the overly personal attacks that he felt were directed at conservatives.
"Especially on the conservative side, we feel as though every time we have a policy disagreement, the left attacks who we are," he said. "They attack our intent, as if we were bad people."