This is a rush transcript from “Hannity,” July 2, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: So how do you introduce Ted Nugent? Part rock star, part outdoorsman, part activist, always exciting, avid hunter, guitarist, author of several New York Times best-selling books, never shy about sharing his opinions. He doesn’t even need an introduction.
TED NUGENT, ROCK STAR: It’s Uncle Ted, Sean. I love you. I bring you greetings from the heartland.
HANNITY: How are you my brother? Good to see you!
NUGENT: Back at you.
HANNITY: You said something recently: Government is out of control. The corruption is absolutely vulgar. There’s so much corrupted power. You ever seen it this bad? Because I haven’t.
NUGENT: I’ve been 61 years clean and sober celebrating the American dream, simply being the best that you can be. Everybody I hang with — the ranchers, the farmers, the cops, the teachers, the plumbers, everybody I hang with — they’ve got an alarm clock. They get up, they put their heart and their soul into being the very best that they can be. They want to be an asset to their families and their neighborhood. They want to be productive members of society.
And then they see an administration that is spitting on the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the 10 Commandments, the golden rule. So we, the Tea Partiers, we the people who are speaking up, I’m going to quote my hero, Dr. Martin Luther King. “We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the cause of tension, but rather bringing to the surface a tension that already exists.” That’s the job of we, the people, to be watchdogs and whistle-blowers.
The government works for us. They’re absolutely out of control. The Tea Party and what you stand for, Sean, what I stand for, one big “A” word, accountability. That’s our money. At least be honest and accountable.
HANNITY: This is what’s amazing to me, because there is a full frontal assault to demonize, slander, defame, besmirch, you know, use character assassination against people that want — the message to me is very simple. Please pull your belt tight. Please stop stealing from our kids and grandkids. Please balance the budget, you know. Please keep a strong national defense. That’s all it is.
NUGENT: Ditto. Ditto.
Believe me, and I agree. I’m a gregarious guy. I was in Tucson. I was in Dallas. I hang out. I go to ranches. I take a lot of charity kids for the Wounded Warriors on fishing trips and hunting trips. I mingle with American families.
You, Sean Hannity, and Fox News represent, by word and deed, the pulse of the most productive and conscientious members of this American dream across the board. And I bring you a salute and a thank you.
Because the frustration came from us taking for granted that the American dream was about a government that would represent us with accuracy, based on those pillars of the American dream. Again, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, 10 Commandments, golden rules. They’ve turned on us, and you guys are speaking out. And the Tea Party and my guys I hang out with, those are our words. Those are our feelings. We want to do it in a nonviolent, peaceable way through public demonstrations.
HANNITY: And that’s the point. We believe that we — in victory in the ballot box.
NUGENT: True. November.
HANNITY: And that’s going to — I think, I’m looking forward to November. And I’m hoping that we— we move the country in another direction. Peaceful transition of power. That’s not how the left is now characterizing opposition.
NUGENT: Well, I like the way you use the word “transition.” We do need to transition back to a “we, the people,” accountable government. I heard our commander in chief constantly repeat total transformation. That’s insane. We are the greatest nation, the most generous nation, the most productive nation, the most peaceable nation, the most brotherly nation in the history of mankind. Why would you want to transform that? And by all indicators, into what?
HANNITY: Ted, wait a minute. America is arrogant. The president told us so. The president told — wait, wait, wait. America —
NUGENT: I know, I know.
HANNITY: America has no right to push its values — liberty, freedom, Constitution of government — on other countries. Wait a minute. That he regrets the fact that America is the world’s — one of the world’s dominant military powers.
NUGENT: In Chicago I shared a ride with a Nigerian cab driver. And I always probe because I love Africa, and I go hunting in Africa all the time. And I love the spirit of that country.
And I always ask, “Why are you here?” And they’re very reluctant to speak. And the cab driver from Jerusalem and the cab driver from Austria. And some buddies of mine that come over during the tour from foreign lands, from Europe. And I get them to speak out.
And every Nigerian cab driver I’ve talked to has reluctantly come forward after I’ve kind of smoothed the conversation out with my love for the African people, that they watched their family members slaughtered in the streets. That if they were too productive, the tyrants and the emperors and the kings would come take what they want. The “Braveheart “movie is — “The Patriot” movie painfully accurate. People want to come to America because it is the only last best place.
HANNITY: Why don’t you ever run for office?
NUGENT: I have a bumper crop of crowbars this year. It might be the right time.
HANNITY: Would your wife let you? Because she has the final say.
NUGENT: My campaign manager? Yes, she has an electrionic —
HANNITY: Would you seriously — would you ever consider running for office?
NUGENT: I would if my family and I decided that it would benefit the country.
HANNITY: Would it?
NUGENT: Around this coming rock and roll tour, which is by the way, all love songs this year. It’s called Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead. It’s a military term. It’s all love songs.
HANNITY: Barry Manilow redux or what?
NUGENT: Barry Manilow’s actually tuning my guitar for me. But it’s all love songs. I’m going to have a great tour this year and a great hunting season. I work closely with a dozen or more military charities.
HANNITY: I know you do.
NUGENT: It fortifies me and gives me great strength and great hope. And if the people demand that, they believe I could do beneficial work for this great country…
HANNITY: You’re considering. Wait a minute. You’re considering a run?
NUGENT: I consider everything. I consider every — I’m a young man. I’m only 61 years old. I can out-dance you, Hannity.
HANNITY: Of course you can out-dance me. I didn’t dance at my own wedding, Nugent. What are you talking about? I didn’t go near — I don’t dance.
NUGENT: I’m a very energized, very healthy man.
HANNITY: I’ve seen you onstage. You are a mad man.
NUGENT: Your favorite mad man.
HANNITY: Your favorite mad man. All right.
NUGENT: You never know. Nothing is off the table.
HANNITY: All right, Ted Nugent.
NUGENT: Godspeed.
HANNITY: Godspeed, my friend.
NUGENT: I love America.
HANNITY: Appreciate you being with us.
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