In the past, Nugent had repeated a narrative pushed by conservative media and disputed by health experts that suggests the official death count from the coronavirus is inflated. He had also mocked people who wear face masks, despite that both the CDC and World Health Organization have urged their universal use.
When Nugent first revealed his COVID-19 diagnosis, he described having a "stuffed up head," body aches and that he "literally could hardly crawl out of bed the last few days." "I thought I was dying," he said. He also called the virus the "Chinese shit," and reiterated his previous stance that he wouldn't be getting the vaccine because he claimed — falsely — that "nobody knows what's in it."
He said (as transcribed byBLABBERMOUTH.NET): "If you're on the
Ted Nugent Facebook Live
right now, you are some great, positive, good people, and we deserve each other. Not to be confused with the Satanic gang who actually celebrates other people's suffering.
"It's a very happy day for happy, smart, prioritized people. It's a very happy day — life, liberty and pursuit of happiness; we've got that shit down. But you have to know that there is a Satanic cult that is just demonic in their hatred and celebrating — literally celebrating — other people's suffering.