National Rifle Association board member Ted Nugent distorted recent comments President Obama made on the race issue in America to defend the use of the N-word including its racist use by former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman.

In a June 24 column for conspiracy website WND, Nugent addressed President Obama's reference to the word “nigger” on Marc Moran's WTF podcast. Obama said, “Racism, we are not cured of it. And it's not just a matter of it not being polite to say 'nigger' in public.”

Apparently misinterpreting the point Obama was making about racism, Nugent praised Obama, writing that he “is not afraid of speaking honestly without fear of politically correct word nazi's going berserk.”

Nugent went on to heap praise on the word, without mentioning its long and vile association with racism. Citing himself as someone who “continue[s] to use the word nigger at one time or another,” Nugent listed several well-known people, including Fuhrman, whom he said were not bound by “political correctness” in their use of the word:

Along with President Obama and my hero Richard Pryor, we join Howard Stern, Johnny Cochran, Mark Furman [sic], O.J. Simpson, Kid Rock, James Brown, the mighty Funkbrothers, Al not so Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan, Malcom X, Kanye West, Fifty Cent and pretty much every black rapper and hip hopper on earth, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, a few thousand NBA, NFL, MLB sports stars, legions of famous and not so famous musicians, actors, politicians, media personalities and assorted celebrities of every color, creed, ethnicity and walk of life, along with a few million others around the world who have used and continue to use the word nigger at one time or another. The dishonest referencing of the word by its first letter is the epitome of political correctness gone mad.

Fuhrman, who is now a Fox News contributor, was an LAPD homicide detective on the O.J. Simpson murder case. During Simpson's trial, the defense produced tapes of Fuhrman using the N-word more than 40 times over a 10-year period. According to the tapes, in his capacity with the LAPD, Fuhrman said things to African-Americans like, “You do what you're told, understand, nigger?” He was also recorded bragging that he liked lining up “niggers against the wall and shooting them.”

In his WND column, Nugent lavishly praised the word. He wrote, “The word nigger has historically been used in a powerfully positive way when describing the proud heritage and history of deeply respected, even revered 'blackness,'” and noted that he considered it “the greatest compliment” when someone uses the word to describe his music.

Nugent added, “The word is used constantly across America in a friendly, even tribal greeting and salutation with no hint whatsoever of negativity nor hostility,” and compared its use to the "'MF' word" -- a reference to “mother fucker” that he never spelled out, although his column did spell out the word “nigger” five times.

Nugent also wrote, “As blacks blow away blacks in record numbers in Chicago and other urban hellzones each weekend, does anyone have the audacity to believe that words play any role in this insane widespread criminality?” adding, “What sort of goofball could possibly believe that certain words are OK for one group of people but forbidden by others?”

On Facebook, Nugent promoted his WND column in a post that said, “When I play my Motown guitar, I niggerup.”

Nugent, who has a lengthy history of racially-charged rhetoric, is correct that he has used the N-word before. In a 1990 interview with Detroit Free Press Magazine, Nugent defended the apartheid system in South Africa and said, “I use the word nigger a lot because I hang around with a lot of niggers, and they use the word nigger, and I tend to use words that communicate ... I don't mean to offend.”

In a 1995 interview with Bob Mack of Grand Royal magazine, Nugent claimed “real America” was full of “working hard, playing hard, white motherfucking shit kickers, who are independent and get up in the morning,” before saying of James Brown and several other African-American musicians, “Those are niggers, those are fucking spirited, genuine African-Americans.”

During an interview for the release a 2002 album, Nugent reportedly said, “So when ever someone tries to claim that I'm a racist because I use the word 'nigger,' the word 'nigger' is a badge of honour where I come from.”

Beyond his use of racial slurs, Nugent has called Obama a “subhuman mongrel” and has claimed that African-Americans should be racially profiled the same way members of a community might profile a breed of dog that was biting children. He also said that African-Americans could “solve the black problem” if they were more honest and law-abiding, and that the African-American community has a “mindless tendency to violence” and an inability to “read or speak clearly.”

This post has been updated to include additional information.