Ted Nugent at NRA meeting: Obama administration is ‘vile, evil’

WASHINGTON -- Ted Nugent, rock star and Mitt Romney supporter, stirred up controversy during an interview at the National Rifle Assn. convention in St. Louis in which he called President Obama’s administration “vile, evil and America-hating.”

“If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year,” Nugent said Monday.

Most combative were his remarks calling Romney supporters to action, saying “We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November.”

Nugent threw his support behind Romney in March after Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s disappointing performance in the early primaries. During a call with Romney, Nugent said he received a pledge that his administration would not institute new gun laws or 2nd Amendment restrictions. Nugent also offered a warning about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which he deemed to be “out of control,” in an interview with the Texas Tribune.

“Romney surrogate Ted Nugent’s comments about Pres. Obama are vile & beyond the pale -- and the Romney campaign should denounce them immediately,” Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz tweeted in response.

Her reaction was soon followed by a DNC petition calling for Romney to renounce Nugent, and a YouTube video referring to him as “a surrogate for Mitt Romney.”

The White House, however, was keen on letting the remark slide by.

“We can’t be policing the statements of supporters across the board,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, dismissing the chances of a call from the president to ask Romney to condemn Nugent’s remarks.

Romney’s campaign, if not the candidate himself, has rejected Nugent’s remarks.

“Divisive language is offensive no matter what side of the political aisle it comes from. Mitt Romney believes everyone needs to be civil,” said Andrea Saul, a Romney spokeswoman.