Facebook/Shemane Nugent
Kid Rock, Sarah Palin, and Ted Nugent pose with a White House portrait of Hillary Clinton
Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee, visited President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday night, and brought musicians Ted Nugent and Kid Rock with her.The group, which included Nugent's wife, Shemane Deziel, and Rock's fiancée, Audrey Berry, dined with the president and posed for photos in the Oval Office and in front of a portrait of Hillary Clinton.
CNN's Jake Tapper posted photos of the visit on Thursday morning.
Palin, who was an early Trump supporter, posted photos of the visit on Facebook and tweeted thanks to the president for the invitation.
Nugent also posted a photo to his Facebook page, writing, "your 1 & only MotorCity Madman WhackMaster StrapAssasin1 dined with President Donald J Trump at the WhiteHouse to Make America Great Again! Got that? Glowing all American over the top WE THE PEOPLE gory details coming ASAP!! BRACE!"
Nugent, a musician from Michigan, has in recent years become an outspoken gun-rights advocate and Tea Party activist. Just a day before his visit to the White House, Nugent shared an article on Facebook from patriotreporting.com concerning Muslim employees at a meat-processing factory in Colorado who were fired in January for taking time off of work for prayer.
He wrote, "Islam isnt a religion. Its a cult of dangerous goofball weirdos."
The musician has a long history of controversial opinions. He sparked outrage - and calls to remove him from the board of the National Rifle Association - after he posted a collage that had been making the rounds on white supremacist websites of photos of prominent American Jews with the Israeli flag beside each of their faces and the caption, "So who is really behind gun control?" A few months after the post, Nugent was reelected to the NRA's board.
In February, Roll Call reported that Rock, a Michigan native whose real name is Robert Ritchie, is considering a 2018 run for a Michigan Senate seat currently occupied by Democrat Debbie Stabenow. Rock has described himself as a libertarian and supported Ben Carson, and later Trump, during the 2016 presidential campaign.