Texas lawmaker invites Ted Nugent to State of the Union address

WASHINGTON — Ted Nugent, the rocker-turned-gun rights activist who was the subject of a Secret Service investigation last year after controversial remarks about President Obama, will attend Tuesday’s State of the Union address as the guest of a conservative congressman from Texas.

The invitation from Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, announced Monday, comes as some Democratic lawmakers invite people who have been affected by gun violence to attend the presidential address.

Stockman, in a statement announcing the invitation, said he was “excited to have a patriot” like Nugent join him in the House chamber, and that afterward he’s sure “Ted will have plenty to say.”

It was Nugent’s remarks at the National Rifle Association convention in 2012 that sparked a Secret Service investigation. Nugent, who endorsed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said that if Obama were to win re-election he “will either be dead or in jail” and called on conservatives to “ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off.”

The Secret Service, the agency charged with protecting the president, met with Nugent soon afterward. Nugent later called it a “good, solid, professional meeting” and said the agency concluded “that I have never made any threats of violence towards anyone.”

Stockman, who served a single term in the mid-1990s before returning to Congress this year, has already attracted attention as an outspoken critic of Obama. He announced Friday that he would live-tweet the president’s speech using the hashtag ” youlie,” borrowing the infamous outburst of South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson during Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress on health care in September 2009.

Stockman also said he would consider filing articles of impeachment against the president in response to executive orders Obama issued as part of his administration’s response to gun violence in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Earlier Monday, the White House said that first lady Michelle Obama would sit with Americans from middle-class families whose lives the president believes would be improved by his policy proposals. Among those guests will be the parents of Hadiya Pendleton, a Chicago teenager who was killed in a shooting just days after participating in events in Washington celebrating Obama’s inauguration.

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who was shot at a constituent event in January 2011 and is now leading a public campaign in support of stricter gun laws, will also attend.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

The Washington State University Snohomish County Extension building at McCollum Park is located in an area Snohomish County is considering for the location of the Farm and Food Center on Thursday, March 28, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Year-round indoor farmers market inches closer to reality near Mill Creek

The Snohomish County Farm and Food Center received $5 million in federal funding. The county hopes to begin building in 2026.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.