Texas Gov. Rick Perry condemned controversial singer Ted Nugent on Thursday for previous comments he made about President Obama, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Last month, Nugent referred to Obama as a "subhuman mongrel" during an interview with Guns.com. On Tuesday, the outspoken artist began campaigning with Republican Greg Abbott in the race for governor of Texas -- a choice Democrat Wendy Davis called "repulsive."
During an interview on CNN's "The Situation Room," Perry called out Nugent for his language.
"I got a problem calling the president a mongrel. I do have a problem with that," said Perry, who is not seeking re-election. "That is an inappropriate thing to say."
Lucy Nashed, a spokesman for Perry, told the Associated Press that his comments speak for themselves and said the governor was not available for an interview about them.
U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) denounced Nugent's offensive comments on Thursday as well.
"Ted Nugent's derogatory description of President Obama is offensive and has no place in politics. He should apologize," Paul tweeted on Thursday.
Cruz was also interviewed by CNN, where he said he wouldn't necessarily prevent Nugent from joining his own campaign but said he wouldn't use his choice of words.
"Those sentiments there, of course, I don't agree with them. You've never heard me say such a thing and nor would I," Cruz said.
According to Business Insider, Abbott refused to speak with reporters on Wednesday about allowing Nugent to join his campaign.
