On radio this morning, Glenn welcomed Ted Nugent to the show to discuss some of the “controversial” comments that he made at the NRA convention. But while the media has been focused on what happened on the stage at the convention, Glenn was interested in what he saw happen behind-the-scenes. While at the NRA Convention, Glenn heard the story of how Ted Nugent was denied the chance to attend the funeral of a fallen Navy SEAL, even though the SEAL himself had put the request in his will. How could a hero’s wish be denied?
The U.S. Secret Service is looking into the incendiary and potentially threatening remarks made by rocker and Mitt Romney-backer Ted Nugent at the National Rifle Association convention over the weekend.“We are aware of them and we are conducting the appropriate follow-up now,” Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie told ABC News.
Nugent told a crowd of convention goers that “if Barack Obama becomes the president in November, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”
“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 of,” he said. The comments were caught on tape and posted online by the website Right Wing Watch.
“The bottom line is I've never threatened anybody's life in my life. I don’t threaten, I don’t waste breath threatening. I just conduct myself as a dedicated ‘We the people’ activist because I’ve saluted too many flag draped coffins to not appreciate where the freedom comes from,” Nugent told Glenn.
Nugent did said that he will take any Secret Service investigation seriously and that he would be as “polite and supportive as I possibly can be, which will be thoroughly.”
Nugent added that he was sure that the conclusion of the investigation would be the obvious one, that he threatened no one. Nugent said he had spoken with several federal agents who had listened to his speech and reached the same conclusion.
Nugent revealed he would be meeting with the Secret Service on Thursday.
Glenn then asked Nugent about an event he witnessed while backstage at the NRA Convention. While Glenn was meeting with the wives of fallen SEALs, Nugent walked in and spoke with the wife of SEAL Chris Campbell. Glenn explained that in Campbell’s will, he had asked for Nugent to attend his funeral, but was uninvited to the event.
“Do I have the ultimate connection with the ultimate human beings or what? A Navy SEAL Chris Campbell, who gave his life for freedom and the U.S. Constitution, had in his will that he wanted me to perform at his funeral if he died in action. I found that from my friend Marcus Lutrell and other SEALs that I get to train with and spend time with. I immediately open my schedule up for the memorial. I got friends with planes because I was in the middle of some busy stuff. I was ready to board the plane next day to go and perform, and share the love for Chris Campbell and his family, and my office got a call from someone high up in the military letting me that somebody very high up did not want me to be in the same area that day. So I was uninvited in defiance of a dead Navy SEALs personal request,” Nugent explained.
“I wonder who that individual might have been,” Glenn said.
