Crenshaw calls fellow House Republicans in Freedom Caucus 'grifters,' 'performance artists'

Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw is attacking fellow chamber Republicans in the conference's conservative House Freedom Caucus, calling some of them "grifters" and "performance artists."

Crenshaw criticized them during a campaign event this past weekend hosted by the Texas Liberty Alliance PAC in Houston, saying the conservative movement has "grifters in our midst, not here, not in this room. I mean the conservative movement."

"Lie after lie after lie, because they know something psychologically about the conservative heart – we’re worried about what people are going to do to us, what they’re going to infringe upon us, that’s the nature of conservatism," he continued.

The congressman directed his comment toward "everybody in the Freedom Caucus – all of them." 

The caucus includes GOP Reps. Mo Brooks of Alabama, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Paul Gosar of Arizona and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

The group was created in 2015 by Republicans who were dissatisfied with party leadership's decision to compromise on some issues with Democrats and the Obama administration. 

Crenshaw is currently facing criticism from members of his party for voting for a bill that provides funding for state immunization information programs, which some conservatives call "vaccine databases."

Crenshaw says he voted for the bill because it provides guidance on how the government should be able to use money for these programs that it already out there. He was one of 80 House Republicans who voted in favor of the measure.