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Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) is upset that Apple Maps still calls the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico. So upset that he tagged Apple CEO Tim Cook on X and said he would file a complaint. “Hey @tim_cook, just noticed Apple Maps still calls it the Gulf of Mexico. Sent a report through the app, but thought you’d like to know!” said the former Navy SEAL.
It seems Crenshaw is upset, triggered if you will, that Big Tech isn’t changing as fast as he wants it to. He’s so upset that he posted a cruise in suburban style at Target. Crenshaw’s lament typifies a behavior I’ve seen among right-wing pundits and politicians over the past few years, the emergence of a sort of post and style for the left in online spaces.
Crenshaw posts cringe and downs on the culture war. They are obsessed with identity politics, trying to invalidate their enemies, policing gender norms, and demanding that culture bend to their will even when the culture has no interest. These are all things they have been complaining about on the left for a long time.
hey @tim_cookJust noticed Apple Maps still calls it the Gulf of Mexico. Sent a report through the app, but you want to know! pic.twitter.com/fA7cWtOGY1
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 21, 2025
Less than 24 hours before this writing, Trump signed an executive order titled “Reclaiming names that honor American greatness” Among many other changes, the order states that the United States will henceforth refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. Google and Apple have not updated the name.
These things take time. But just because Trump’s name is different doesn’t make it so. It is a body of water that is not exclusively used by the United States and Mexico, and the rest of the world will still call it the Gulf of Mexico. Many people who don’t live in the US use Google and Apple Maps, and it’s a good bet that The name will not change for them.
Wikipedia has not changed the name of its entry for the bay. “Even if it’s official, America doesn’t own the Wikipedia entry. [It] Lives in the Gulf of Mexico as the rest of the world calls it,” said one Anonymous Wikipedia editor In the page’s edit history.
“It’s a modern version of freedom fry jingoism, nothing to do with geography and everything to do with politics,” said another Wikipedia editor, referring to efforts by conservatives to rename the French fry after 9/11. “We have the same sort of thing as a perennial complaint with the British Isles from a series of Irish editors. It’s nothing new or special, and it can be documented on its own and simply referenced in articles if and when it becomes more than a sound bite at a press conference.”
But conservatives like Crenshaw will publicly claim, post cruises and embarrass themselves. Clueless in victory, they now exhibit the traits they have long accused their opponents of possessing.
The American right has control over the Supreme Court, the Presidency, and the Legislature. Such a total political victory is not enough. They want you to like them too. They want you to laugh at their jokes, take their memes seriously, and call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
The post pinned to Crenshaw’s X account is “Conservative’s Guide to the Culture Wars” in 2021. The second item on the list is the claim that a “victor mentality is better than a victim mentality.”
Over the next four years, I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more cruise posts from Crenshaw and others as winners turn themselves into victims when every little thing doesn’t go their way. Or when it doesn’t go as fast as they’d like.
