Advertisement

Ted Nugent says he has COVID-19 after claiming the pandemic is not real

Rocker Ted Nugent announced on Facebook he tested positive for COVID-19 Monday after suffering flu-like symptoms for 10 days.

"Everybody told me I should not announce this," Nugent said at the beginning of the nearly 9-minute video.

The 72-year-old, who previously claimed COVID-19 was "not a real pandemic," 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, stopping periodically for his self-described "rattily cough."

In the video, the “Cat Scratch Fever” singer repeatedly uses racist slurs to refer to COVID-19 and reiterates his previous stance that he wouldn’t be getting the vaccine because he claims wrongly that “nobody knows what’s in it.”

Nugent revealed he was in agony after testing positive for coronavirus — months after he said the virus was “not a real pandemic.” "I thought I was dying," Nugent says in a Facebook live video posted Monday.
Nugent revealed he was in agony after testing positive for coronavirus — months after he said the virus was “not a real pandemic.” "I thought I was dying," Nugent says in a Facebook live video posted Monday.

More: Marshawn Lynch, Dr. Fauci discuss COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy

More: Virus spreads at record pace globally despite vaccines; all US adults now eligible for jabs

Ingredients of the vaccines are listed on the Centers for Disease Control website. And USA TODAY has compared each of the vaccines.

Nugent, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, previously called the pandemic a scam and has railed against public health restrictions. He has repeated a narrative pushed by conservative media and disputed by health experts that suggests the official death count from the coronavirus is inflated.

The U.S. has more than 31.7 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 567,600 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: more than 142 million cases and 3 million deaths. More than 264.5 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and 211.5 million have been administered, according to the CDC.

Contributing: Associated Press

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ted Nugent says he tested positive for COVID-19, won't get vaccine