Nobody wants to know what REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin thinks about Obamacare. Neil Schon from Journey’s take on bailouts isn’t that important. But when it comes to politics, Ted Nugent, the third member of the rock and roll nostalgia tour that kicked off in Hidalgo Thursday night, knows how to get himself some headlines.
As TM Daily Post readers will recall, the Central Texas transplant caused an uproar in mid-April for comments about President Obama that he made during the National Rifle Association convention.
“If Barack Obama becomes the president in November again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year,” Nugent, who had endorsed Mitt Romney, said.
That got him Secret Service scrutiny and calls for Romney to distance himself from Nugent.
It also got Nugent removed from the REO and Journey concert in Fort Knox, Kentucky on June 23.
“After learning of opening act Ted Nugent’s recent public comments about the president of the United States, Fort Knox leadership decided to cancel his performance on the installation,” the Army base wrote on its Facebook page.
Nugent also recently pled guilty and paid a $10,000 fine for violating federal law during a 2009 black bear hunt. During filming for his Outdoor Channel television show, Spirit of the Wild, Nugent wounded a black bear with his bow and arrow, but then failed to track down and kill the animal. He then violated the state’s one-kill limit by hunting a second bear four days later.
Jay Root of the Texas Tribune and the New York Times caught up with Nugent in Hidalgo to recap the past few weeks. Naturally, he found the rocker unrepentant.
“On stage, I will say what I damn well please,” Nugent said. “I will not be silenced.”
And:
“If Obama is elected, I will either be dead or in jail because I’m on his enemies list,” Mr. Nugent said, repeating the line that drew Secret Service scrutiny. “If they come and get my guns and if they come to take my property, I will either be dead or in jail. Do you really find any ambiguity in that?”
Root also wrote that Nugent felt both the Secret Service investigation and the hunting prosecution showed:
Mr. Obama and his “minions” are out to get him. And he is convinced — though he offered no proof — that United States Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. sent out the word to ‘get Nugent.’
Read the whole story to the end to see what the Nuge has to say about Romney, Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, and his nine children by several women.
Root also filmed a short behind-the-scenes video with Nugent:
Updated: Nugent’s publicity gifts also landed him on CBS This Morning today, in what was billed as his “first on-camera interview since his controversial comments.” Nugent told Jeff Glor that the Romney campaign “expressed support” after he made those comments, but, as Patrick Kevin Day of the Los Angeles Times summarized, things end up getting bonkers.
While answering a question about the comments and his perceived lack of moderation, Nugent asked Glor if he’d conducted a lot of interviews.
“Call me when you sit down across from someone who has more families with dying little boys and girls who get a call to take them on their last fishing trip in life. Call me when you meet someone who does that more than I do. Because that’s really moderate. In fact, you know what that is? That’s extreme! I’m an extremely loving, passionate man, and people who investigate me honestly, without the baggage of political correctness, ascertain the conclusion that I’m a damn nice guy and if you can find a screening process more powerful than that, I’ll…”
And that’s where the swearing begins. First at Glor, and then at the unseen CBS News producer.
During the post-segment wrap-up with co-anchors Charlie Rose and Erica Hill, Glor explained that following the interview, Nugent’s wife forced him to apologize and he later told Glor that he was rushed to the emergency room after their interview to have a kidney stone removed.
