White House Visit: Ted Nugent, Sarah Palin and Kid Rock Get Their Time With Trump

Posted by Reinaldo Massengill on Saturday, March 2, 2024

John F. Kennedy once told a White House gathering of Nobel prize winners that it was “the most extraordinary collection of talent” to meet for dinner there,  “with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”

It’ll probably leave you stumped to come up with a historic analogy for President Trump’s Wednesday night dinner guests — former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and musicians Ted Nugent and Kid Rock.

On Thursday, after they posted pictures on Facebook and Twitter, news of the gathering drew mocking and scorn from Trump detractors and a defense of the gathering from those who were there.

Palin, appearing on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” said that Trump invited her to come to the White House and to bring guests. “Jesus was booked,” she said.

So she invited Nugent and Kid Rock, calling them “some bold, courageous, all-American dudes who I knew would have good conversation with the president and get to express a lot of good, middle-class, work-ethic-type issues.”

Related Stories

Photo illustration of a pixelated Taylor Swift with caution signs on her face VIP+

How Celebrity Reps Are Fighting the Flood of Unauthorized AI Content

ELMONT, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 11: Chappell Roan attends the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on September 11, 2024 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for MTV)

Chappell Roan Issues Video Statement Defending Not Endorsing a Presidential Candidate, Reiterates There Are 'Problems on Both Sides'

Nugent, on a hunting blog, wrote that “we discussed specifically the counterproductive follies of the Endangered Species Act and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, BLM and other out of control bureaucracies.”

Popular on Variety

But they also appeared to savor a portrait of their 2016 nemesis, Hillary Clinton, whose portrait hangs in the White House along with other former first ladies. A picture of the three posing before her portrait was posted to Palin’s Facebook page.

“The picture says it all,” she told Tapper.

It’s certainly not unusual for a president to dine at the White House with celebrities. The Obamas entertained Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, among others, while the Clintons routinely invited Hollywood figures for overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom.

All three of Trump’s celebrity guests campaigned for him, but it is Nugent who has become known in the political realm for particularly incendiary comments. He once referred to President Barack Obama as a “subhuman mongrel,” but he denied that he was being racist.

Drew Courtney, communications director for the progressive group People for the American Way, said that “no one who has pushed this type of racist, violent rhetoric should be welcomed into the White House to meet with the president. It shows just how low this  administration will go in pandering to right-wing extremism.”

Read More About:

Jump to Comments

More from Variety

Most Popular

Must Read

Sign Up for Variety Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Variety Confidential

A Variety and iHeartRadio Podcast

ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9nfXKDjpugs2eemsS0e8%2BrnKyhlJq7tXnTq6ymqF2orrOtx2anmqSZo3q1scNmpa6flaPBbrfInWSrp5Ogeri0yK2cZqCfqsCmecOipaedomJ%2Bc3yRbHBqcWRlfA%3D%3D

CATALOG
    FEATURED TAGS