Ted Nugent now wants to tone down the ‘hateful rhetoric’

By Herman Wong

The Washington Post

Musician Ted Nugent is known for speaking his mind about the Second Amendment and hunting, but especially on politicians.

He once said then-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama should “suck my machine gun.” When President Obama was running for re-election in 2012, the rocker said during the National Rifle Association convention that, “If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.” The statement attracted the attention of the Secret Service.

But after Wednesday’s shooting at a congressional baseball practice, Nugent has decided to be “more selective with my rants and in my words.”

“At the tender age of 69, my wife has convinced me I just can’t use those harsh terms,” he said on the 77 WABC radio program Thursday. “I cannot and will not and I encourage even my friends, slash, enemies on the left, in the Democrat and liberal world, that we have got to be civil to each other.”

“I’m not going to engage in that kind of hateful rhetoric anymore.”

More recently his past comments about Obama and Hillary Clinton (“Obama &Clinton, that’s who. They should be tried for treason &hung.”) were invoked as what some saw as the right’s hypocritical outrage over images of Kathy Griffin holding a mask of a bloody, severed head in the likeness of President Donald Trump.

Nugent’s change of heart comes as some Republicans and Democrats have also called for more civil political discourse. (Some of the internet’s pro-Trump personalities blamed Wednesday’s attack on liberals and the media.)

Trump called for national unity after Wednesday’s shooting, winning praise from even his late-night TV critic Stephen Colbert, who thanked the president for “responding to this act of terror in a way that gives us hope, whatever our differences.”

At the Congressional Baseball Game on Thursday evening, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., told CNN that “What we’re trying to do is tone down the rhetoric, lead by example and show people we can disagree with one another, we can have different ideas without being vitriolic, without going to such extremes.” Standing next to Ryan, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said, “Tonight we’re all Team Scalise,” referring to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, who was shot during the attack and was reported to be in a critical condition.

Greg Gianforte, Montana’s incoming congressman who had recently been convicted of assaulting a reporter, told The Associated Press that, “It’s important to make sure we reach out to all parties and hear their voice. I think the other parties have an obligation, as well, to be respectful and in that dialogue.”

And Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., who was on the baseball field during the shooting, condemned what he called “political, rhetorical terrorism” practiced by both sides.

“Is this America’s breaking point?” he asked on CNN. “It’s my breaking point. We’ve got to end this.”

For Nugent, this isn’t the first time he has talked about his language.

In 2014, he apologized for calling Obama a “subhuman mongrel” after a backlash that included criticism from Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul.

“I apologize for using the street-fighter terminology of ‘subhuman mongrel’ instead of just using more understandable language, such as ‘violator of his oath to the Constitution,’ ‘the liar that he is.’ ”

Following Thursday’s radio interview, the rock guitarist went live on a Facebook video to continue explaining his decision.

“I’m not backing down jack squat,” he said, but was taking action “so some idiot doesn’t misinterpret that I’m recommending violence.”

Even as some politicians say they want more civility, others criticized their opponents.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., pointed to what he called “an increasing hostility on the left.”

And as The Washington Post’s Dan Balz wrote, the recent calls for a break from hostilities might not last:

“Wednesday’s shootings can act as a temporary circuit breaker to some of the hostilities, and Thursday’s Congressional Baseball Game can become an emotional and poignant coming together. But will that be enough to prevent a swift return to the kind of debilitating political conflict that has become so accepted as the norm? History shows how difficult that could be.”