Ted Nugent is sorry.

Sort of.

After several days of controversy surrounding his foray on the Texas campaign trail, the rocker/right-wing agitator expressed regret for using the words “subhuman mongrel” to describe President Obama.


“I did cross the line. I do apologize -- not necessarily to the president -- but on behalf of much better men than myself,” Nugent said Friday in an interview with Ben Ferguson, a Dallas-based conservative talk radio host.

Nugent said he regretted “using the street-fighter terminology of ‘subhuman mongrel’ instead of just using more understandable language, such as ‘violator of… the Constitution.... the liar that he is.’”

The 65-year-old “Motor City Madman” campaigned this week alongside Texas Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott, forcing the GOP gubernatorial front-runner to defend their association after Democrats publicized some of Nugent’s more pungent remarks, including the slur against the president last month at a Las Vegas trade and gun show.

An Abbott spokesman said that while the candidate did not always endorse or agree with the language Nugent used, he appreciated his “forceful [advocacy] for individual liberty and constitutional rights.”


Other Republicans, however, were quick to denounce Nugent, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Arizona Sen. John McCain and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a likely GOP presidential contender in 2016.

“I will try to elevate my vernacular to the level of those great men that I’m learning from in the world of politics,” Nugent said in the call-in interview with Dallas station WBAP.

mark.barabak@latimes.com

Twitter: @markzbarabak