By Zachary Gorchow
President of Michigan Operations
Posted: April 10, 2018 2:43 PM

Ted Nugent has done it again.

Again, as in saying something outlandish and/or reprehensible.

And yet, again, it appears the aging rocker’s standing remains solid among many Michigan Republicans who covet and trumpet the endorsement of the longtime hunting and Second Amendment advocate born in Detroit who gained fame in the 1960s and1970s with the Detroit-based Amboy Dukes and eventually with the multiplatinum solo album “Cat Scratch Fever.”

He now lives in Texas but maintains property in Jackson County, and his endorsement has been eagerly touted this election cycle by Republicans such as Attorney General Bill Schuette in his race for governor, House Speaker Tom Leonard in his race for attorney general and Lena Epstein in her race for Congress.

During a weekend interview with InfoWars’ Alex Jones, the same guy who shamefully called the Sandy Hook school massacre a “hoax,” Mr. Nugent equated liberals, Democrats, the news media, academia, half of the U.S. government and RINOS (Republicans In Name Only) to “rabid coyotes” and “scam artists” responsible for evil and dishonesty.

"So come to that realization," he said. "There are rabid coyotes running around, you don't wait till you see one to go get your gun, keep your gun handy. And every time you see one, shoot one."

One could dismiss such comments as inane hyperbole, except they come on the heels of Mr. Nugent referring to the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who survived the deadly shooting massacre and have since campaigned for new restrictions on guns as soulless and manipulated by far-left elements. Mr. Nugent made those comments in a separate radio interview about 10 days earlier.

Some of the students have been especially vocal and searing in their criticism of the National Rifle Association, where Mr. Nugent is a long-time board member and which has staunchly resisted any increase in firearms regulations for decades. He reacted in particular to the outspoken survivor, Emma Gonzalez, saying candidates accepting donations from the NRA were in effect accepting “blood money.”

“The lies from these poor, mushy-brained children who have been fed lies and parrot lies,” Mr. Nugent said. “I really feel sorry for them. It’s not only ignorant, dangerous and stupid -- it’s soulless. To attack the good, law-abiding families of America when well-known, predictable murderers commit these horrors is deep in the category of soulless.”

We could go back-and-forth about the NRA and whether it is standing up for Second Amendment rights or doing the bidding of gun manufacturers at the expense of people’s lives. That’s not the point insofar as it involves Mr. Nugent and Michigan politics where he remains a coveted celebrity endorsement in Michigan Republican circles. The point is that Mr. Nugent has a penchant for engaging in vicious, unhinged ad hominem attacks that could eventually render him radioactive politically.

There was the Internet meme he posted to his Facebook page in 2016 that blamed Jews for gun control that featured the photos of 12 Jewish politicians or activists (including former U.S. Sen. Carl Levin of Detroit) with Israeli flags over their faces. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was referred to as “Jew York City Mayor Mikey Bloomberg,” and the following words appeared in front of former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s face: “Gave Russian Jew immigrants your tax money.”

After criticism began of his use of a blatantly anti-Semitic meme, Mr. Nugent defended the meme by saying Jews supporting gun control are Nazis in disguise. Eventually Mr. Nugent apologized, even throwing in an “oy vey” for good measure, claiming he had focused only on the images of the politicians known for backing gun restrictions and not the accompanying wording. Or the Israeli flags. He admitted it was a “nasty and offensive” meme.

Then there’s the diatribes against President Barack Obama, like calling him a “subhuman mongrel” in an epithet straight out of the 1850s, and saying Mr. Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should be “tried for treason and hung” over their handling of the attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, in which four Americans were killed.

Democrats have started to poke at Republicans, especially Mr. Schuette, for eagerly accepting Mr. Nugent’s support as the number of unsavory remarks grows. But at this point, for Republicans, there’s no sign they see support from Mr. Nugent as anything other than a plus.