Politics

Trump rally opens with Ted Nugent calling Ukraine’s president a “homosexual weirdo”

ANAHEIM, CA - JUNE 30: Ted Nugent strikes a chord to a sold out show at the Grove Theatre in Anaheim, CA on June 30, 2011.
ANAHEIM, CA - JUNE 30: Ted Nugent strikes a chord to a sold out show at the Grove Theatre in Anaheim, CA on June 30, 2011. Photo: Shutterstock

At a Saturday rally for Donald Trump in Waco, Texas, far-right activist and musician Ted Nugent opened his speech by calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “homosexual weirdo.”

“I have a couple of demands. Secure my border,” he yelled before performing the National Anthem. “I have a couple of really good ideas: Give me my tax dollars back. I didn’t authorize killing babies at Planned Parenthood. I want my tax dollars back… I didn’t authorize giving our military hardware to the Taliban. I want my money back. I didn’t authorize any money to Ukraine to some homosexual weirdo.”

Zelenskyy is not gay.

Nugent was referring to the fact that the United States has provided $48 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country last year. Far-right activists and politicians like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) have long spoken out against assisting Ukraine withstand the Russian invasion.

While Zelenskyy is not gay and is married to a woman, he recently voiced a desire to look into legalizing the status of same-sex couples, as marriage equality has not been achieved in Ukraine. Nugent may also have been referring to the fact that before he was president, Zelenskyy once performed on television wearing high heels.

Back in 2003, Zelensky co-founded and performed in a comedy troupe called Kvartal 95 (Quarter 95). The group’s stated aim was to “make the world a better place, a kinder and more joyful place with help of … humor and creativity.”

One of the group’s televised performances involved Zelenskyy and three of his fellow troupe members doing sultry dance moves in high heels, form-fitting bottoms, and black, skimpy tops that looked somewhat like BDSM gear.

Before blasting U.S. aid to Ukraine, Nugent began his speech by calling everyone in the crowd “real America” and “real Texas.”

“I’m telling you the whole world sucks, and America’s catching up, but here in Waco, Texas with the real sh*tkickers this don’t suck at all.”

At the end of last year, Trump announced his campaign to seek the Republican nomination for president in 2024 in an hour-long rambling speech in which he decried the “China virus,” immigration (he referred to potential immigrants as “rough people”), and “the radical left Democrats that are trying to destroy our country from within,” while promising to unify the country.

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