If you thought vile, racist, NRA-poster-boy Ted Nugent slithered out from a rock as a spontaneous reptilian life form, it might surprise you to learn he has a brother. His brother's name is Jeff and he, at least sometimes, wears suits and is capable of sounding like a reasonable man. Warning: it is possible other Nugent siblings might crawl out of hte woodwork. He has another brother John and a sister Mary.)

Yesterday, Jeff Nugent went on CNN and spoke to Erin Burnett about his brother’s questionable choice of words.

“I still love him, but this time he’s clearly crossed a line,” Nugent said in the interview. Jeff and Ted have found themselves on polar opposite sides of some of the country’s hottest issues for years now, most notably regarding gun control and the efficiency of intensive background checks. When asked about how he approached the conversation with his brother, Nugent was quick to remind that this was “a conversation we’ve been having for longer than [Burnett] could imagine.”

“My advice to him for years has been ‘tone it down,’ and that there is a line you shouldn’t cross,” he explained, “I am very serious about helping Ted calm his rhetoric down.”

Jeff spoke to Burnett the night after she interviewed Ted on his highly controversial recent remark calling President Obama a 'sub-human mongrel,' during which he promised to stop the name calling—and claimed he had no idea that the term was one used in Nazi germany about Jewish people. On a talk show the next morning and call the President a racist, which Jeff diplomatically cited as something that “could be considered name calling.” Ted also compared Obamacare to Nazism. It seems he will never learn!

Jeff went on to explain that he was relatively surprised by the attention that Ted’s words have gotten, especially in light of the literal smorgasbord of issues facing the country and more worth our attention—though it seems the topic wasn’t quite trivial enough to stop Jeff from showing up on national television to talk about it.

When asked to respond to Jeff’s statements, Ted simply said, “No response. His words stand and I stand with him.”

Watch the video of the interview here.