Watch TED NUGENT Perform National Anthem At DONALD TRUMP's Mar-A-Lago Resort in Palm Beach

Ted Nugent played the national anthem and received the "Great American Defender Of Freedom" award from former U.S. president Donald Trump at American Freedom Tour's Winter Gala at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on December 1. Video and photos from the event can be found below.

The outspoken conservative rocker discussed the award during a recent episode of "The Nightly Nuge", a news-style clip in which he offers his take on the news of our world every night. Speaking to co-host Keith Mark, Ted said in part: "This was given to me by the great president Donald Trump, and it says right here: 'The Great American Defender Of Freedom Award'. 'American Freedom Tour'. 'Ted Nugent'. And so I'm accepting this, Keith, on behalf of you, because you're a freedom fighter, and my entire team, and my wife Shemane, my kids, who stand up against the lie, the scam, the joke of peer pressure. God made us individuals.

"So here at 'The Nightly Nuge' I accept this on behalf of everybody watching and celebrating 'The Nightly Nuge' where truth, logic and common sense is the wind beneath the eagle's wings," he continued. "And if we don't fight against evil, if 'I'm not into politics,' you are literally fueling evil. In 2022, if you're not against the Nancy Pelosis and Joe Bidens and the Hunter Bidens and the Eric Holders and the Barack Obamas and the Hillary Clintons, if you're not against them, then Satan… And this is harsh, harsh terminology… if you're with the Democrats and you think men should destroy the hard-earned world athletic records of women, and if you think that fat, perverted, Satanic men should be able to crotch-twerk children at a drag queen event, then you're on the side of evil. You have to be into politics."

Nugent previously spoke about his admiration for America's 45th president in an October 2020 interview with InfoWars' "The Alex Jones Show", hosted by noted conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. At the time, he said: "I genuflect at the altar of this great man. He is just pulling off miracle after miracle. He's really touching the heart and soul and representing the heart and soul of the best American families out there. Just praise God for that. This is one of those divine intervention moments, like the founding fathers. Believe me when I tell you that.

"I've been so honored and humbled to spend time with the great man," Ted continued. "There's something very spiritual about this crazy guy. I say 'crazy' — he's crazy like you; he's crazy like me; he's crazy like this welder I know down the road that, no matter what welding job you have, he shows up early and he welds something that will never break, and then he goes to his next welding job, and he leaves a vapor trail of high energy, of positive spirit.

"The energy from this president… Like the founding fathers defined the history of slavery and tyranny and kings and emperors and despots, that was divine intervention, Alex. And I've witnessed this great commander-in-chief Donald J. Trump, and he goes from rally and rally, and he gets up there with piss and vinegar and vim and vigor… You should see the sparkle in this man's eye."

Nugent went on to say that Trump's appeal lies in his image as the bold, no-B.S. boss who tells it like it is and cuts a fair deal.

"Here's the bottom line: the most admirable attribute of a human being is believability," Ted said. "If you believe this man, you believe he believes in what he says and that he represents your beliefs, that identifies President Donald J. Trump. This man just wants to renegotiate global contracts to benefit the United States. He wants the United States to be the winner. He wants to have fair deals, and he wants to have fair trade. He wants to benefit the United States Of America, because this is the last best place. If we turn it over to the freaks like [Nancy] Pelosi and [Joe] Biden and [Kamala] Harris, if we turn it over to them, we are Venezuela overnight."

Nugent added: "[Trump] sees the threats to the American Dream. He sees the oath violating by elected employees who have turned the corner into criminality, from [Barack] Obama to [Eric] Holder to [Loretta] Lynch to Lois Lerner to Adam Schiff, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton — we go right down the list of these gang bangers. I mean, it's MS-13, Black Lives Matter, Antifa in the Democrat party… [Trump] sees the threats to America and he's gonna use every maneuver, every trick, every law he can to stop the Marxists. He's saving his family from the wolves. That's his motivation."

A former board member of the National Rifle Association, Nugent has drawn intense criticism for his controversial past remarks, including telling then-president Barack Obama to "suck on my machine gun." He also made inflammatory remarks about Hillary Clinton, calling her a "devilbitch" who "hates everything good about America."

In a lengthy Facebook post in 2016, Nugent said Obama and Clinton should be tried for treason and hanged over their handling of the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.

In 2019, Nugent defended Donald Trump after the then-U.S. president was accused of making racist remarks about Democratic congresswomen from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.