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Ted Nugent: State of the Union was 'predictable,' 'flowery'

President Barack Obama may have held the House floor Tuesday night for his State of the Union address, but afterward it was rocker Ted Nugent who captured the press's attention. Invited as a guest of Texas Rep. Steve Stockman, the man in the camouflage cowboy hat (who charted largely in the 1970s with songs like "Cat Scratch Fever" and "Wango Tango") darted from reporter to reporter post-speech, s
Pete Marovich / EPA / Today

President Barack Obama may have held the House floor Tuesday night for his State of the Union address, but afterward it was rocker Ted Nugent who captured the press's attention. Invited as a guest of Texas Rep. Steve Stockman, the man in the camouflage cowboy hat (who charted largely in the 1970s with songs like "Cat Scratch Fever" and "Wango Tango") darted from reporter to reporter post-speech, sharing his opinions of the president's words and let's just say he was far from impressed.

"Nothing he proposed, or nothing that has been proposed, would have stopped any of the shootings," he told the Los Angeles Times. "We've heard it all before. You just can't get more of a predictable, flowery script every time he speaks."

Slate noted that Nugent, a 64-year-old musician and outspoken gun rights activist who has speculated about running for public office (the Ted Nugent for president Facebook page has 157,177 likes), sat with crossed arms when the president spoke about how victims of gun violence "deserve a vote."

Nugent isn't a fan of the president in general; last November, just after the election he tweeted: "Goodluk America u just voted for economic & spiritual suicide. Soulless fools". But he particularly bristles when the president discusses gun control.

"None of his gun control proposals has ever reduced crime, has ever halted or deterred criminal behavior and has never saved an innocent life," he told CBS News. "Now, I have ways to save innocent lives and they're so simple it's stupid: No more recidivism. Dangerous criminals never get out. No. 2, when someone threatens innocent life and acts absolutely dangerously crazy, don't shrug your shoulders and say, 'I wish we could do something.' Get those people off the streets."

Still, there was one part of the speech Nugent did like. "My favorite part was when I couldn't hear clearly," he said. "Then I didn't get angry."

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