Perhaps the most high-profile non-officeholder to intervene in Alabama’s 2022 U.S. Senate race is legendary musician and Second Amendment activist Ted Nugent.
The iconic rock star last year endorsed then-senatorial hopeful Jessica Taylor, who would later drop out of the race and lend her support to the candidacy of U.S. Army veteran Mike Durant. In late February, Nugent followed Taylor in officially endorsing Durant.
While making his rounds Monday in Alabama’s media circuit touting Durant a day before Republican voters head to the polls, Nugent spoke to Yellowhammer News regarding his involvement in the heated three-way primary contest.
For Alabama’s Republican-dominated electorate, the Second Amendment is an issue of emphasis each cycle for candidates seeking election to statewide office. The issue has been prevalent in this year’s race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa).
According to Nugent, gun rights have always been at the “tip of the culture war sphere” for the national left, which he said consisted of “braindead dopers” such as President Joe Biden and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas).
Given that the Second Amendment is Nugent’s signature issue, Yellowhammer News inquired with the celebrity rocker regarding the criticism Durant received from his opponents when a 2011 U.S. Army War College speech surfaced of the former “Black Hawk Down” aviator touching on a foreign citizenry’s relationship with an occupying military.
Speaking in the context of his service in the Somali Civil War, Durant said, “The first thing that needs to be done is to disarm the population,” later adding if that could be accomplished “in some of our U.S. cities, that would be a pretty good step towards law and order.”
Pointing to Durant’s military service, Nugent dismissed the assertion that the candidate could waver on his public position regarding gun rights.
“Mike Durant watched his brothers die for his constitutional oath,” Nugent told Yellowhammer News. “That includes the right to keep and bear arms. Here’s the blinding orb of reality: If Ted Nugent endorses someone, I promise they’re not soft on the Second Amendment. I think it’s a safe assumption.”
The “Cat Scratch Fever” artist went on to express his belief that Durant was “an absolutist” on the Second Amendment.
“So my point is I love Alabama, I love freedom, I love America, and all the pillars of unique experimentation of self-government that this constitutional republic represents,” proclaimed Nugent. “And I believe Mike Durant’s the right guy. And believe me, if he ever hinted on infringement I’d come down so f***ing hard on him. I don’t believe he’s infringeable, I believe he’s an absolutist like me. Just like the First Amendment, it’s good on planet Earth without paperwork, without licenses and without permits.”
Nugent told Yellowhammer News that Taylor’s endorsement of Durant was an indication that the first-time candidate “was the right guy.”
“You know, I vetted Jessica so intently,” he advised. “She would have been great. So when she passed the baton on to Mike, I knew he was the right guy because she wouldn’t have passed it to him. She would not. So that is the conclusion of my genuine and sincere vetting.”
When asked about his plans to travel to Alabama in the event Durant is a contender in the likely runoff election, Nugent said he does not “get out much” but noted his excitement in returning to the Yellowhammer State for an upcoming nationwide tour to promote his new album, “Detroit Muscle.”
Fans will have the opportunity to see the “Motor City Madman” in concert at Mobile’s Soul Kitchen Music Hall on July 31 and Huntsville’s Mars Music Hall on August 2.
Durant will face U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) and former Business Council of Alabama head Katie Britt in the May 24 GOP primary election. Should no candidate earn more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election will take place June 21, 2022.
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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