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Ted Nugent Under Fire for Obama Threats

Secret Service: 'We'll conduct an appropriate follow-up'

April 17, 2012 3:55 PM ET
ted nugent
Ted Nugent performs at the House Of Blues in Chicago.
Lyle A. Waisman/Getty Images

 Ted Nugent has the Secret Service keeping an eye on him, according to New York's Vulture blog. Nugent landed on their radar over the weekend, when the musician attended the National Rifle Association's convention in St. Louis Missouri and said of Democrats, "We need to ride into the battlefield and chop their heads off in November."

A Secret Service spokesman told  Vulture, "We are aware of it, and we'll conduct an appropriate follow up."

Democrats and their aligned groups have already come out against Nugent's remarks and have called for Romney to distance himself from the musician. "We don't expect moderation from Ted Nugent," said Michael Keegan, President of People for the American Way, in a statement, "but we do expect a major presidential candidate like Mitt Romney to rebuke a prominent supporter for spewing hate-filled and violent rhetoric against the President of the United States."

The Democratic National Committee has also responded with an online petition asking people to encourage Romney to "stop the violent rhetoric before it gets out of control."

"Divisive language is offensive no matter what side of the political aisle it comes from," added Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul, as reported by Talking Points Memo. "Mitt Romney believes everyone needs to be civil."

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