Ted Nugent is sorry for posting (or as he likes to call it, “reposting”) what many have called an anti-Semitic graphic on his Facebook page.
“Can I say oy vey? I sincerely apologize for my irresponsible re-posting of such a nasty and offensive meme. In my rush between songwriting jams and musical recording frenzy, all I saw was the images of people dedicated to disarm us, I made no connection whatsoever to any religious affiliation,” Nugent said in a statement to MLive on Thursday.
Earlier this month, Nugent, a board member of the National Rifle Association, posted a meme featuring prominent politicians like Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Barbara Boxer, Sen. Charles Schumer, and others, each beside an Israeli flag (though none of them are actually Israeli), along with the following caption:
“Know these punks. They hate freedom, they hate good over evil, they would deny us the basic human right to self defense & to KEEP & BEAR ARMS while many of them have tax paid hired ARMED security! Know them well. Tell every1 you know how evil they are. Let us raise maximum hell to shut them down!”
Some of the politicians and activists in the graphic were even given nicknames. Bloomberg is described as “Jew York City Mayor Mikey Bloomberg,” while Schumer is called “Sen. Chucky boy Schumer.” Over Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s face, the text reads: “Served in Israel’s army during Gulf war.”
Nugget went on to say in his apology that, “Everyone knows deep down that at 67 years of age I didn’t suddenly become anti-Semitic. That’s patently ridiculous, and those who rushed to such a mistaken condemning judgement should re-examine the system by which such equally irresponsible knee-jerk judgments are made.”
It seems Nugent already forgot about another Facebook gem he posted that same day of Nazis rounding up Jews during the Holocaust along with the caption, “soulless sheep to slaughter.”
The Anti-Defamation League’s Jonathan Greenblatt called Nugent’s post “nothing short of conspiratorial anti-Semitism.”
But despite the outcry, the NRA is not rushing to judgment, telling the Washington Post earlier this month that “Individual board members do not speak for the NRA.”
Interestingly, despite his very sincere apology, Nugent has yet to take down either of his offensive posts from his Facebook page.
Know these punks. They hate freedom, they hate good over evil, they would deny us the basic human right to self defense ... Posted by Ted Nugent on Monday, February 8, 2016