Secret Service clears Nugent after interview
(CNN) - The U.S. Secret Service said Thursday that it has resolved any questions regarding rocker Ted Nugent, whom its agents interviewed after he said he would be "dead or in jail" if President Barack Obama were re-elected.
"The issue has been resolved," and the agency "does not anticipate any further action," Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary told CNN after the interview.
Earlier Thursday, Nugent issued a statement of his own, writing, "I met with two fine, professional Secret Service agents in OK today." The musician was in Ardmore, Oklahoma, to perform a concert.
Nugent described the as a "good, solid, professional meeting concluding that I have never made any threats of violence towards anyone. The meeting could not have gone better. I thanked them for their service, we shook hands and went about our business. God bless the good federal agents wherever they may be."
The interview came amid outcry over comments Nugent made at the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association, which took place in St. Louis, Missouri, this past weekend.
"If Barack Obama becomes the president in November again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year," Nugent said, according to a video that the NRA posted on YouTube. "If you can't go home and get everybody in your lives to clean house in this vile, evil, America-hating administration, I don't even know what you're made out of."
The video has since been removed.
Many have questioned whether Nugent was alluding to violence against the president.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, solicited donations from supporters using the comments, calling them "despicable, deplorable and completely beyond the pale."
A U.S. official said Wednesday that Secret Service policy is to acknowledge every American's right to free speech while still determining an individual's intent.
Nugent's comments sparked particular furor because the musician and activist has endorsed GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul responded to comments from Nugent on Tuesday, saying "divisive language is offensive no matter what side of the political aisle it comes from."
"Mitt Romney believes everyone needs to be civil," she added.
CNN's Jason Morris, Jessica Yellin, Javi Morgado and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
as a veteran all i can say is if you cant respect the man, you must respect the rank. you can disagree all you like with obama, but the fact remains he is the leader of the free world. it makes me sick to see the woman from arizona stick her finger in his face. and she and ted arent the only ones. disparaging remarks are made about the president daily on all media fronts. how do you feel when you see children disrespect their parents in public? dont you see horrible ungrateful brats? me too. and guess what? the rest of the world sees the same thing. we are working on giving up our status as the leading super power.
needs to take a journey to the center of his mind, though I doubt he'll find anything of value.
Go Obama, go! Ted needs to continue slipping into the zone of forgotten musicians who have not contributed anything meaningful to the world of good music.
Ted, Ted, Ted.....for the love of God, go away. !!!!!!!
Hope the "vintage rocker" was wearing his Depends, otherwise, he would have soiled his seat.
When a bombastic loudmouth is "polite" in front of the SS, it is called "cowed" as in coward!
It's a motor city madhouse!
So much for the big uproar. Wasserman Shultz really shold keep a lid on it sometimes to. This was nothing more than a citizen expressing himself publicly not secretly about his feelings. Maher and the other punduts do it once a week on their show.
LOL. Ted had a meeting and all is good. Liberal heads must be exploding over this. Too funny.
Does anyone remember when the Dixie Chics slammed Bush? There was Hell to pay and it virtually cost them their careers. The hypocrisy from the far right is pathetic; I haven't heard their outrage over Nugent yet and Romney's response was his typical weakling self. They certainly aren't slamming Nugent like they did the Chics. You'd have thought the Chics committed treason back then! Would love to see Nugent put in a small cage with a grizzily, no gun allowed, to fend for himself.
I love it when a citizen of this great republic exercises their first amendment rights...especially when it really ticks off the liberals!!! 🙂
Mr. Nugent should understand that it is important to respect the office of the President of the USA, but it is even more important to have a respectful person to ocupy that office. President Obama is not respectful and needs to step down because of the total mismanagement of the public trust that has been given to him.
He alone is respnsible for the misconduct of the SS, GSA, and his own administration, including the wasteful spending habits of Mrs. Obama. He has lied to the American people, Catholic Bishops, and has brought shame and
scandal to the highest office in the land. As. President Rosevelt once said "the buck buck stops here" meaning the President assumes full responsibility for the actions of all government employees.
We the people need to get this man and his gang of thieves out of office. Our children's future depends on it. Wake p America!
Repubs , don't hold your breath...
I wonder how many Liberals in Hollywood were contacted by the Secret Service after making equally dumb statements about Bush? I'm sure the number is ZERO!
Cannot wait to vote for Mitt Romney in November!
What a weanie, he couldn't even man up to his own comments, let alone all the hate comments he's spewed in the past. I'm sure he was wetting his pants with those guys; what a wimp.
when asked about it I am shocked Mitt Romney didn't say "those aren't the words I would have used". Now Mitt is trying to deny he sought out Nugent's endorsement.
I support the NRA, but they should have seen this coming, because Uncle Ted is nuttier than a squirrel turd. I have lost respect for them both.
Nothing says relevant musician like playing a gig in Ardmore, OK.
The fact that the speech was at N.R.A. meeting is the scary part.Knowing some of these gun nuts [right wing N.R.A.CARD carrying, relatives who also are racist] all he needs to do is plant the seed and someone in the room will carry out or try to do TEDS dirty work. Will we be the next Norway, with the right wing conservitive shooting the innocents?
Ted, there's nothing wrong with voting for your candidate. But the GOP has been a very violent party with great disrespect for this country and the POTUS. YOU may now like president Obama but you have no right to make the racist comments about him that this animal did. If this is the kind of people that Mitt Romney represents then I would say the GOP is the divisive party. Haven't seen anyone on the Democratic party making racist dangerous comments as the GOP toward Mitt or any of the other candidates.,
This guy is faker than any politician, including Romney and Obama.
where was this itch to fight when nam was raging?
Was Ted Nugent famous for something other than making a fool of himself? I see him holding a guitar. Can he play it? What does he do?
Nugent has always been a big supporter of law enforcement officers so this is no surprise.
Ted Nugent rocks.