NRA's Ted Nugent: The Real Racist Is President Obama, Not Me

TIMOTHY JOHNSON/Media Matters For America

National Rifle Association board member Ted Nugent claimed that he is "the antithesis of a racist" and that instead President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder "are clearly guilty of racism" because "they make public judgments based on the color of someone's skin instead of the content of their character."

In his regular column for conservative website Rare, Nugent attacked the "hateful media" for leveling charges of racism against him afterhe made a series of racially charged comments in wake of the acquittal of George Zimmerman. According to Nugent, the people he meets across the country are "aghast at the vulgar dishonesty of a media that has plummeted into the soulless abyss of hurling the hateful accusation of 'racism' at [him] and anybody they disagree with."

The real racists, according to Nugent, are Obama and Holder, who he suggests judged Zimmerman -- who was acquitted of murdering Florida teenager Trayvon Martin -- on the basis of his race and not his character:

We are most offended that the president of the United States and the U.S. attorney general are clearly guilty of racism when they intentionally bring race to the fore when they make public judgments based on the color of someone's skin instead of the content of their character in total defiance of the findings of the FBI, Department of Justice, entire state's investigative resources and a jury verdict.

In his column, Nugent also grouped "racist scam masters" Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and "other black panthers" before writing that "the foodstamp scam is being allowed to enslave so many able-bodied Americans."

Since the acquittal of Zimmerman on July 13, Nugent has made a number of offensive generalizations about the African-American community, leading to calls for his removal from the NRA board of directors.

During a July 16 appearance on conspiracy theory radio program The Alex Jones Show, Nugent claimed that African-Americans could fix "the black problem" if they just put their "heart and soul into being honest, law-abiding, [and] delivering excellence at every move in your life," also adding his belief that "racism against blacks was gone" by "the late [19]60s."

On July 23, Nugent joined entertainer Nick Cannon's podcast to claim that he was an "anti-racist" just moments before suggesting that African-Americans should be profiled the same way members of a community might profile a breed of dog that was attacking children. Nugent doubled down on these comments in a July 24 opinion piece for conspiracy website WND, claiming that the black community has a "mindless tendency to violence" and that an inability to "read or speak clearly is the root of unemployment for blacks."

Nugent also leveled a number of attacks on Martin and his family, labeling the deceased teenager a "dope smoking, racist gangsta wannabe," an "enraged black man-child," and a "Skittles hoodie boy."

His recent comments follow a long history of inflammatory rhetoric on race and other topics: