National Rifle Association board member Ted Nugent endorsed the conspiracy theory that President Obama's birth certificate is a forgery in his regular column for conspiracy website WND.
Riffing on a recent claim by Obama that his critics promote “phony scandals” involving his administration, Nugent wrote in his July 31 column that “more of us believe in the American hero Sheriff Joe Arpaio's thorough investigation into your phony birth certificate and phony history than the phony media's smoke and mirrors.”
In July 2012 Arpaio, a controversial Arizona sheriff, announced that a "Cold Case Posse" under his direction determined that Obama's “long-form birth certificate was manufactured electronically and that it did not originate in a paper format as claimed by the White House.” The “Cold Case Posse” reportedly attempted to uncover evidence that Obama was born in Kenya.
Nugent also suggested in his column that Obama is engaged in a “Saul Alinsky inspired attack on America” which involves “intentionally implementing the 'Rules for Radicals' agenda so appropriately dedicated to Satan.”
Beyond his endorsement of birtherism, Nugent made a number of inflammatory attacks on Obama including accusing him of engaging in “phony racism” and suggesting that Nidal Hasan, the man allegedly responsible for a 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, is Obama's “Allah Ahkbar buddy.”
Nugent has faced criticism and calls for his removal from the NRA's board of directors in response to recent comments where he stereotyped African Americans as violent and made disparaging comments about deceased Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
Obama is a frequent target of Nugent's incendiary rhetoric. Beyond infamously suggesting that he would be “dead or in jail” if Obama was reelected in 2012, Nugent has compared the president to a Nazi, claimed that veterans are committing suicide because Obama is “violating” the U.S. Constitution, and suggested that the president is “clearly guilty of racism” against George Zimmerman. In an April appearance on the NRA's news program, Nugent complained that he did not receive enough help in opposing Obama's reelection, employing the “metaphor” that “When I kick the door down in the enemy's camp, would you help me shoot somebody?”
WND is a fitting place for Nugent to reveal his belief that Obama's birth certificate is a forgery, as the website has long served as a platform for outlandish conspiracy theories about the president, especially regarding his birth certificate.