Ted Nugent rewrote history today as he tried to portray himself as someone who does not engage in violent rhetoric. Predictably, the three Fox News cohosts let him get away with his BS.
On Friday, Ted Nugent said on WABC Radio, in response to the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise, “I’m not going to engage in that kind of hateful rhetoric anymore.”
One might be skeptical of that claim. Recently, Nugent defended his 2007 comments: “Obama, he’s a piece of shit. I told him to suck on my machine gun. Hey Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch. Nugent justified those remarks on June 2, 2017 by blaming Obama and Clinton, saying they were “in response to an outrageous attempt to ban certain types of firearms that would do nothing except help bad guys with more gun-free zones.”
Today, on Fox & Friends, Nugent repeated his vow to turn down his political rhetoric.
He started off saying that his family told him “I’d be more effective if I abandoned the Motor City street slang.”
He then reiterated his lame defense of his 2007 comments by once again blaming Obama, Clinton and Democrats:
NUGENT: I have never projected hate. When I said that about sucking on my machine guns, that was a direct response to the liberal Democrats, Obama and Clinton et al., to ban certain types of fire arms, violating their oath to the Constitution and the Second Amendment. That was a metaphor and nobody is too stupid not to know that but the left is so dishonest that they misrepresented that.
[…]
I have never threatened anybody. I have never hinted at violence. During adrenaline-charged rock and roll performances, Detroit street slang comes out.
That is a flat-out lie. As recently as June 1, 2017, the Washington Examiner reported that Nugent said, “I’ve never threatened to hang anybody. I’ve never suggested anybody get hung, except the one time after Benghazi, I recommended that Hillary Clinton be charged, arrested, tried and hung. What she did as secretary of state was certainly treasonous, and I stand by that.”
Also, in 2012, Nugent said: “If Barack Obama becomes the next president in November, again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.” Which got him a Secret Service investigation.
This morning, on Fox, Nugent said, “I just think in these heightened, exciting times, politically, I am reaching out across the aisle and I’m saying we must all unite to bring no violence. no harm to any of our fellow Americans.”
Cohost Abby Huntsman asked if we’ll see a different Ted Nugent moving forward.
Not different, Nugent said. He considered his change an “upgrade” and claimed he’ll be civil in debates.
Nugent then ridiculously claimed that his 2007 comments were a metaphor that nobody should have taken seriously: “During the outrage of a rock and roll performance, ‘machine gun’ references have been made but nobody could possibly think I want anybody’s lips anywhere near my machine gun. That was a metaphor.”
After all the talk of civility and toning-down rhetoric, Nugent resumed attacking liberals. When asked if both sides will follow his lead, he replied, “I have not seen any gesture whatsoever from the left. They still are gonna – it looks to me, are gonna burn down buildings if they disagree with your speech. They’re still gonna turn over cars and attack people if they don’t agree with you.”
Next, Nugent played the victim card as he talked about threats on social media to his family. “The violence from the other side is unprecedented,” he whined.
Really? Did Nugent miss when the far right hung and burned effigies of Obama?
Watch the Nugent hypocrisy below, from the June 18, 2017 Fox & Friends.
(Nugent caricature by DonkeyHotey via Creative Commons license. It has been resized to fit our format.)
.@TedNugent: "The violence from the other side is unprecedented." pic.twitter.com/2U3uhWf8uQ
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 18, 2017
WTF do civilians need with silencers? Not counting criminals.