WASHINGTON – Rocker Ted Nugent said he had an amicable meeting with the Secret Service on Thursday, seemingly ending the dustup over controversial comments Nugent made at the National Rifle Association convention last weekend.
Nugent, a longtime conservative and NRA board member who endorsed Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination, had Democrats howling after comments in which he described the Obama administration as “vile, evil and America-hating.”
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If Obama won re-election, Nugent said he “will either be dead or in jail,” and also called on conservatives to “ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November.”
Democrats called on Romney to disavow the comments. The Republican’s campaign said that “divisive language is offensive no matter what side of the political aisle it comes from.”
The Secret Service, the agency charged with protecting the president, had said it would investigate, a process that included Thursday’s meeting.
In a statement posted on Nugent’s website, he said the “good, solid, professional meeting” ended with the agency “concluding that I have never made any threats of violence towards anyone.”
“I thanked them for their service, we shook hands and went about our business. (God bless) the good federal agents wherever they may be,” he said.
Nugent also stood by his speech at the NRA gathering, saying that “by no stretch of the imagination did I threaten anyone’s life, or hint at violence or mayhem.”
A Secret Service spokesman told The Washington Post that after the interview, “the issue has been resolved.”
N.J. governor listening, not sleeping, at concert
TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie insists he was listening – not sleeping – during a recent Bruce Springsteen concert in New York City.
Christie says a fan snapped a photo of him with head back and eyes closed during the show at Madison Square Garden one day after returning from the Middle East. The governor says The New York Post incorrectly concluded that he had dozed off. Christie told reporters Thursday that actually he simply leaned back and shut his eyes to listen to the spiritual-sounding song “Rocky Ground” when the picture was taken.
The governor is a mega-fan who has attended 127 Springsteen concerts, though he and Springsteen seldom agree politically.
Christie says he buys his tickets from band members Steven Van Zandt or Max Weinberg at face value.
Clooney to host Obama fundraising event
WASHINGTON – George Clooney has a starring role in a new Obama campaign sweepstakes.
The actor is holding a high-end fundraiser for President Barack Obama at his Los Angeles home next month and the president’s re-election campaign is offering supporters a chance to join Obama and Clooney at the event.
Deputy campaign manager Julianna Smoot says in an email that Clooney is saving seats at the May 10 fundraiser for two supporters and their guests. The campaign is seeking donations of at least $3 for the contest, similar to past sweepstakes offering donors a chance to have dinner with Obama.
Clooney recently met with Obama at the White House to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and South Sudan.
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