Ted Nugent meets with Secret Service, talks with Glenn about it

April 20, 2012

Writer

On radio earlier in the week, Ted Nugent revealed that he would be meeting with the Secret Service about the comments he made at the NRA Convention. And what did they find?

"Well I cannot put it in more positive terms. What a couple of professional, cordial, take care of business federal agents they were," Nugent said.

"They wanted to make sure that they understood that I threatened no one's life and we determined that, shook hands and I went and rock n' rolled and they went Secret Servicing," Nugent said.

"They were doing their jobs," he added.

"We just got down to the beauty of metaphors," he explained. "They had to ask basic questions about what I believe and what I meant."

Nugent added that he found none of the questions intrusive.

"Truth and logic wins," Nugent said.

Rush Transcript Below:

One of the guys who is colorful common sense is Ted Nugent. It flew to Phoenix. We're in Phoenix today where we're doing a show and it landed in Phoenix. It got a note from Ted and he said, Just finished with the secret service. So, it wrote him back and said, Do you want to be on tomorrow on the radio and tell the story? And he's here now. Hi, Ted.

NUGENT: Greetings. There's　a shortage of effervescence --

GLENN: 　-- a list of these things, these conversations?

NUGENT: No. I just got -- find the truth in my coffee. I just opened up the Great White Buffalo Tour last year. So, I'm completely inebriated on the greatest rhythm and blues band in the world. So, you have to deal with me.

GLENN: Okay. All right. So, last night you were in Oklahoma, right?

NUGENT: That's right, yeah.

GLENN: Okay. And you're getting ready for the concert and here come the men in black, the secret service

NUGENT: Yeah.

GLENN: What happened?

NUGENT: Well, I cannot put it in more positive terms. What a couple of professional, cordial, take care of business Federal agents they were. It was a fine young black man and a fine young lady from Oklahoma. We celebrated the celebration of the 20th year of the shot heard around the world and I said a little prayer for the victims of the Oklahoma bombing years ago on that date and we got down to business and they wanted to make sure that they understood that it threatened no one's life and we determined that, shook hands, and it went and rock and rolled and they went secret servicing.

PAT: How long did the whole process take?

NUGENT: Well, you know, it could have been done in a couple of minutes, but we were there for about 40 minutes. And I just cannot emphasize the professionalism. It was a great experience. I want you to know that, Glenn.

GLENN: I don't want to　-- it admire the secret service. I don't admire the guy down in Mexico, but I admire the secret service and I've always had a very high image of the secret service.

NUGENT: They're the best. There's no question. These guys are well-trained and they're very intelligent and they're taking of business. They were doing their job. Some maniac, some brain-dead lunatic fringer Mao fan said that Ted Nugent threatened the President's life. So, these guys had to respond, no matter how pooty that claim was.

GLENN: Some Mao fan? So, this complaint was sworn out by the President himself, huh?

NUGENT: It thought that was Mao. Anyhow　--

GLENN: All right. Oh, my. Oh, my.

NUGENT: I think it was Wasserman Shoots.

GLENN: Okay. So, can you say what happened? Can you tell us? I've never been interviewed by the secret service. What kind of questions do they ask?

NUGENT: Well, we just got down to the beauty of metaphors and I think the way it scrolled across the bottom of the FOX News screen last night is what it quoted that intelligent people don't have to have metaphors explained to them but just for the record, I think it's on the official secret service record that when I say I fired a shot across the bough of the left wing, it made sure he knew it did not own a battle ship or a Howitzer and nothing had been fired. By the way, that's the only thing I don't own is a battle ship and a Howitzer, but　--

GLENN: You're working on that, though, aren't you?

NUGENT: It's just　(inaudible) away from my Navy friend, yeah.

GLENN: Right. Okay.

NUGENT: No. It was　-- they had to ask basic questions about what I believe and what it meant and it found none of the questions intrusive or, you know, outrageous. They just asked such basics and I gave them the basic responses.

GLENN: That's great. Ted, couldn't have a happier ending, couldn't have a happier ending

NUGENT: No. Once again, truth and logic wins, which, by the way, that was a whew moment because in this moment, truth and logic　-- if you listen to the mainstream media or our government, it's almost like truth and logic is not only extinct but has been banned. So, let me stand strong. But let me conclude that, Glenn, by saying that I have always been the tsunami with communications, e-mail and texts through my office. It mean forever, since the Sixties when I stood up for conservation, the Second Amendment, the loonies have just bludgeoned me, but other than the loonies, for every loony attack on me, I get thousands and thousands of thank yous and it mean from every imaginable walk of life. So, the Nugent family knows that we live truth and logic and the American way and people are celebrating it now more than ever because simple truth and logic at the NRA convention ultimately caused consternation and fear amongst idiots. So, let the idiots overreact and we'll continue with the wonderful (inaudible.)

GLENN: How do you feel about the NRA　-- I read a story that claimed the NRA took your stuff off of the NRA website. What message should that send?

NUGENT: Well, it did not hear that that happened and I'm not certain that that wasn't a normal procedure based on how they rotate information. So, I'll reserve my conclusion, but the NRA is the greatest family organization in the world standing up for the rights of self-defense and if you don't have the right to self-defense, you don't have life itself.

STU: One other question, some media reports coming in, Ted, is there's reports that you've been dropped from a concert at Fort Knox. Anything to that or is that　--

NUGENT: Oh, where does all this information　-- I've got to tell you, the meeting we walked out of the meeting where we all shook hands and agreed that no one would release any information, all of the sudden there were headlines with what went down. I've got to tell you that somebody planted a bug under my skin or something because this is fascinating how this really inside information gets out, but, no. That has not happened. There's always that possibility, just like when I was supposed to perform at the request of a dead Navy SEAL, I can't imagine any authority more important than a request of a dead Navy SEAL but somehow political correctness has put the request of a dead Navy SEAL behind someone else's desires. My brain can't even grasp that thought, but it exists.

GLENN: Can it tell you something? I will tell you that I have not　-- I've not been blocked or thwarted many times before. I can usually find the information, but the good Navy SEALS and the good people in the military won't say a word to me about any of this, won't say a word to me about this.

NUGENT: Isn't that something? That breaks my heart. These guys are dying for the First Amendment. These guys died for the Constitution and the bill of rights.

GLENN: Won't say a word and I'll tell you, Ted, I've got to believe that they all want to say something but, no, sir, can't talk about that, no, sir, cannot talk about that

NUGENT: We want to make sure that we respect their oath to the commander in chief and I want to reference the President. Whether I identify his violations or his shortcomings, I would never, you know, denounce the President amongst military because they're his boss and I have to respect that.

GLENN: Yeah. No. The other way around. He's their boss, but　--

NUGENT: Yeah.

GLENN: And it agree with you. They have to answer to the commander in chief and you don't want anarchy. Those are the people at Occupy Wall Street, but who do you suppose could have pulled that off? Because that wasn't somebody in the military.

NUGENT: It really believe that it was the President. I believe that the President said that when he went to the Memorial for these heroes, that Ted Nugent wouldn't be allowed in the same area.

GLENN: Huh. Ted, strange times we live in. Really odd.

NUGENT: Strange. You know, so illogical, so rude. It use the word soulless. You really have to be soulless to make those kind of conclusions, but you look at the Wasserman Schultzes, just maniacs, really scary, hateful maniacs on some of these networks attacking and lying about me. It's really bizarro. It mean, just bizarro. How do these people live with themselves?

GLENN: Ted, thanks a lot. Great to hear and good luck on the tour. Where are you tonight?

NUGENT: Yeah.

GLENN: Where are you tonight?

NUGENT: Tonight we're in Winnie, Texas. We're going to rock in Texas the next couple of nights. Then we go nonstop until hunting season.

GLENN: All right, man. Talk to you.

NUGENT: God speed.

GLENN: Got bless. All right.

'Rage against the dying of the light': Charlie Kirk lived that mandate

PHILL MAGAKOE / Contributor | Getty Images

Kirk’s tragic death challenges us to rise above fear and anger, to rebuild bridges where others build walls, and to fight for the America he believed in.

I’ve only felt this weight once before. It was 2001, just as my radio show was about to begin. The World Trade Center fell, and I was called to speak immediately. I spent the day and night by my bedside, praying for words that could meet the moment.

Yesterday, I found myself in the same position. September 11, 2025. The assassination of Charlie Kirk. A friend. A warrior for truth.

Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins.

Moments like this make words feel inadequate. Yet sometimes, words from another time speak directly to our own. In 1947, Dylan Thomas, watching his father slip toward death, penned lines that now resonate far beyond his own grief:

Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Thomas was pleading for his father to resist the impending darkness of death. But those words have become a mandate for all of us: Do not surrender. Do not bow to shadows. Even when the battle feels unwinnable.

Charlie Kirk lived that mandate. He knew the cost of speaking unpopular truths. He knew the fury of those who sought to silence him. And yet he pressed on. In his life, he embodied a defiance rooted not in anger, but in principle.

Picking up his torch

Washington, Jefferson, Adams — our history was started by men who raged against an empire, knowing the gallows might await. Lincoln raged against slavery. Martin Luther King Jr. raged against segregation. Every generation faces a call to resist surrender.

It is our turn. Charlie’s violent death feels like a knockout punch. Yet if his life meant anything, it means this: Silence in the face of darkness is not an option.

He did not go gently. He spoke. He challenged. He stood. And now, the mantle falls to us. To me. To you. To every American.

We cannot drift into the shadows. We cannot sit quietly while freedom fades. This is our moment to rage — not with hatred, not with vengeance, but with courage. Rage against lies, against apathy, against the despair that tells us to do nothing. Because there is always something you can do.

Even small acts — defiance, faith, kindness — are light in the darkness. Reaching out to those who mourn. Speaking truth in a world drowning in deceit. These are the flames that hold back the night. Charlie carried that torch. He laid it down yesterday. It is ours to pick up.

The light may dim, but it always does before dawn. Commit today: I will not sleep as freedom fades. I will not retreat as darkness encroaches. I will not be silent as evil forces claim dominion. I have no king but Christ. And I know whom I serve, as did Charlie.

Two turning points, decades apart

On Wednesday, the world changed again. Two tragedies, separated by decades, bound by the same question: Who are we? Is this worth saving? What kind of people will we choose to be?

Imagine a world where more of us choose to be peacemakers. Not passive, not silent, but builders of bridges where others erect walls. Respect and listening transform even the bitterest of foes. Charlie Kirk embodied this principle.

He did not strike the weak; he challenged the powerful. He reached across divides of politics, culture, and faith. He changed hearts. He sparked healing. And healing is what our nation needs.

At the center of all this is one truth: Every person is a child of God, deserving of dignity. Change will not happen in Washington or on social media. It begins at home, where loneliness and isolation threaten our souls. Family is the antidote. Imperfect, yes — but still the strongest source of stability and meaning.

Mark Wilson / Staff | Getty Images

Forgiveness, fidelity, faithfulness, and honor are not dusty words. They are the foundation of civilization. Strong families produce strong citizens. And today, Charlie’s family mourns. They must become our family too. We must stand as guardians of his legacy, shining examples of the courage he lived by.

A time for courage

I knew Charlie. I know how he would want us to respond: Multiply his courage. Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins. Out of darkness, great and glorious things will sprout — but we must be worthy of them.

Charlie Kirk lived defiantly. He stood in truth. He changed the world. And now, his torch is in our hands. Rage, not in violence, but in unwavering pursuit of truth and goodness. Rage against the dying of the light.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck resurrects the 9-12 Project to support Charlie Kirk's family

Glenn Beck is once again calling on his loyal listeners and viewers to come together and channel the same unity and purpose that defined the historic 9-12 Project. That movement, born in the wake of national challenges, brought millions together to revive core values of faith, hope, and charity.

Glenn created the original 9-12 Project in early 2009 to bring Americans back to where they were in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. In those moments, we weren't Democrats and Republicans, conservative or liberal, Red States or Blue States, we were united as one, as America. The original 9-12 Project aimed to root America back in the founding principles of this country that united us during those darkest of days.

This new initiative draws directly from that legacy, focusing on supporting the family of Charlie Kirk in these dark days following his tragic murder.

The revival of the 9-12 Project aims to secure the long-term well-being of Charlie Kirk's wife and children. All donations will go straight to meeting their immediate and future needs. If the family deems the funds surplus to their requirements, Charlie's wife has the option to redirect them toward the vital work of Turning Point USA.

This campaign is more than just financial support—it's a profound gesture of appreciation for Kirk's tireless dedication to the cause of liberty. It embodies the unbreakable bond of our community, proving that when we stand united, we can make a real difference.
Glenn Beck invites you to join this effort. Show your solidarity by donating today and honoring Charlie Kirk and his family in this meaningful way.

You can learn more about the 9-12 Project and donate HERE

The critical difference: Rights from the Creator, not the state

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

When politicians claim that rights flow from the state, they pave the way for tyranny.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) recently delivered a lecture that should alarm every American. During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, he argued that believing rights come from a Creator rather than government is the same belief held by Iran’s theocratic regime.

Kaine claimed that the principles underpinning Iran’s dictatorship — the same regime that persecutes Sunnis, Jews, Christians, and other minorities — are also the principles enshrined in our Declaration of Independence.

In America, rights belong to the individual. In Iran, rights serve the state.

That claim exposes either a profound misunderstanding or a reckless indifference to America’s founding. Rights do not come from government. They never did. They come from the Creator, as the Declaration of Independence proclaims without qualification. Jefferson didn’t hedge. Rights are unalienable — built into every human being.

This foundation stands worlds apart from Iran. Its leaders invoke God but grant rights only through clerical interpretation. Freedom of speech, property, religion, and even life itself depend on obedience to the ruling clerics. Step outside their dictates, and those so-called rights vanish.

This is not a trivial difference. It is the essence of liberty versus tyranny. In America, rights belong to the individual. The government’s role is to secure them, not define them. In Iran, rights serve the state. They empower rulers, not the people.

From Muhammad to Marx

The same confusion applies to Marxist regimes. The Soviet Union’s constitutions promised citizens rights — work, health care, education, freedom of speech — but always with fine print. If you spoke out against the party, those rights evaporated. If you practiced religion openly, you were charged with treason. Property and voting were allowed as long as they were filtered and controlled by the state — and could be revoked at any moment. Rights were conditional, granted through obedience.

Kaine seems to be advocating a similar approach — whether consciously or not. By claiming that natural rights are somehow comparable to sharia law, he ignores the critical distinction between inherent rights and conditional privileges. He dismisses the very principle that made America a beacon of freedom.

Jefferson and the founders understood this clearly. “We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights,” they wrote. No government, no cleric, no king can revoke them. They exist by virtue of humanity itself. The government exists to protect them, not ration them.

This is not a theological quibble. It is the entire basis of our government. Confuse the source of rights, and tyranny hides behind piety or ideology. The people are disempowered. Clerics, bureaucrats, or politicians become arbiters of what rights citizens may enjoy.

John Greim / Contributor | Getty Images

Gifts from God, not the state

Kaine’s statement reflects either a profound ignorance of this principle or an ideological bias that favors state power over individual liberty. Either way, Americans must recognize the danger. Understanding the origin of rights is not academic — it is the difference between freedom and submission, between the American experiment and theocratic or totalitarian rule.

Rights are not gifts from the state. They are gifts from God, secured by reason, protected by law, and defended by the people. Every American must understand this. Because when rights come from government instead of the Creator, freedom disappears.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

POLL: Is America’s next generation trading freedom for equity?

NurPhoto / Contributor | Getty Images

A recent poll conducted by Justin Haskins, a long-time friend of the show, has uncovered alarming trends among young Americans aged 18-39, revealing a generation grappling with deep frustrations over economic hardships, housing affordability, and a perceived rigged system that favors the wealthy, corporations, and older generations. While nearly half of these likely voters approve of President Trump, seeing him as an anti-establishment figure, over 70% support nationalizing major industries, such as healthcare, energy, and big tech, to promote "equity." Shockingly, 53% want a democratic socialist to win the 2028 presidential election, including a third of Trump voters and conservatives in this age group. Many cite skyrocketing housing costs, unfair taxation on the middle class, and a sense of being "stuck" or in crisis as driving forces, with 62% believing the economy is tilted against them and 55% backing laws to confiscate "excess wealth" like second homes or luxury items to help first-time buyers.

This blend of Trump support and socialist leanings suggests a volatile mix: admiration for disruptors who challenge the status quo, coupled with a desire for radical redistribution to address personal struggles. Yet, it raises profound questions about the roots of this discontent—Is it a failure of education on history's lessons about socialism's failures? Media indoctrination? Or genuine systemic barriers? And what does it portend for the nation’s trajectory—greater division, a shift toward authoritarian policies, or an opportunity for renewal through timeless values like hard work and individual responsibility?

Glenn wants to know what YOU think: Where do Gen Z's socialist sympathies come from? What does it mean for the future of America? Make your voice heard in the poll below:

Do you believe the Gen Z support for socialism comes from perceived economic frustrations like unaffordable housing and a rigged system favoring the wealthy and corporations?

Do you believe the Gen Z support for socialism, including many Trump supporters, is due to a lack of education about the historical failures of socialist systems?

Do you think that these poll results indicate a growing generational divide that could lead to more political instability and authoritarian tendencies in America's future?

Do you think that this poll implies that America's long-term stability relies on older generations teaching Gen Z and younger to prioritize self-reliance, free-market ideals, and personal accountability?

Glenn's Show Prep

Ted Nugent meets with Secret Service, talks with Glenn about it

'Rage against the dying of the light': Charlie Kirk lived that mandate

Kirk’s tragic death challenges us to rise above fear and anger, to rebuild bridges where others build walls, and to fight for the America he believed in.

Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins.

Picking up his torch

Two turning points, decades apart

A time for courage

Glenn Beck resurrects the 9-12 Project to support Charlie Kirk's family

The critical difference: Rights from the Creator, not the state

When politicians claim that rights flow from the state, they pave the way for tyranny.

In America, rights belong to the individual. In Iran, rights serve the state.

From Muhammad to Marx

Gifts from God, not the state

POLL: Is America’s next generation trading freedom for equity?

Do you believe the Gen Z support for socialism comes from perceived economic frustrations like unaffordable housing and a rigged system favoring the wealthy and corporations?

Do you believe the Gen Z support for socialism, including many Trump supporters, is due to a lack of education about the historical failures of socialist systems?

Do you think that these poll results indicate a growing generational divide that could lead to more political instability and authoritarian tendencies in America's future?

Do you think that this poll implies that America's long-term stability relies on older generations teaching Gen Z and younger to prioritize self-reliance, free-market ideals, and personal accountability?

Do you think the Gen Z support for Trump is an opportunity for conservatives to win them over with anti-establishment reforms that preserve liberty?