National Rifle Association board member Ted Nugent wrote that some people who supported President Obama “defiled the sacrifices and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and spat on his grave” because they voted for Obama “based on the color of his skin instead of the content of his character.”

Nugent, who is also a spokesperson for Outdoor Channel, added in his July 9 column for conspiracy website WND that Obama's election represented “the worst case of racism I have ever witnessed in my lifetime” :

We have all seen the roving reporter man-on-the-street interviews. I'm sure we all have some friends, acquaintances, even family members and others who have uttered the painful statement. I don't know about anyone else, but when I first heard people say that they voted for Barack Obama because he was black, or that it was “time” for a black president, my skin crawled. I am well aware that that statement of mine will be isolated and made out to be “racist” by the dishonest media and the maniacally boneheaded Saul Alinsky gang over at the Huff-n-Puff Post and beyond, but the real horror is that the worst case of racism I have ever witnessed in my lifetime was the indecent choice en mass by millions of Americans who defiled the sacrifices and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and spat on his grave when they actually admitted that they voted for this president based on the color of his skin instead of the content of his character.

In a later section of his column that sought to downplay racism in the United States, Nugent claimed he has “never personality witnessed” it in his lifetime:

Does racism still exist in America today? I'm guessing that is does, but in my nonstop world travels over a lifetime, being the ultra-gregarious chap that I am, enjoying the friendships of many good people, performing more than 6,500 concerts around the globe, diligently pursuing diverse peoples and places, I have never personally witnessed racism or hatred of any kind with anyone I have ever met.

Nugent sought to defend himself from charges of racism, explaining that he has always made decisions “based on the content of one's character” and has “hired blacks, Hispanics and Asians throughout my long 50-plus year rock 'n' roll career” :

When haters have no substance whatsoever for debate, they always plummet to the accusations of racism, and it has become an embarrassment of the left. I laugh in their soulless, race-baiting faces. I have always made my decisions in life as to who I associate or work with based on the content of one's character, his or her work ethic, job skills and overall human decency, never the color of skin. For the record, I have hired blacks, Hispanics and Asians throughout my long 50-plus year rock 'n' roll career, and not once did I give any considerations whatsoever to color of skin, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or anything other than the individual's integrity, capabilities and humanity.

Despite his hatred of “race-baiting,” Nugent has a long history of inflammatory remarks about race.

In his column, Nugent labeled the president's comments on the Trayvon Martin case represented “outright racism.” In July 2013 Nugent made a series of racially inflammatory remarks following the acquittal of Martin's killer George Zimmerman, including claims African-Americans have a "mindless tendency to violence" and should be profiled the same way a community might profile a dangerous breed of dog that was biting children.

In February 2013, Nugent made national headlines for calling Obama a “subhuman mongrel.”