KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- With a little over a month before the Kansas Republican gubernatorial primary, Kris Kobach added star power to his candidacy with the endorsement of rocker Ted Nugent.
The pair appeared together Saturday at a rally and fundraiser at the Lenexa Community Center.
The two of them both showed up driving a Jeep with a machine gun on top. It’s the same one that drew controversy in a parade in Shawnee earlier this month.
“You know a few people on the radical left were offended by the Jeep with the gun so I thought I would bring the Jeep with a gun back here and put Ted Nugent in it beside of me,” said Kobach.
But some didn’t like the gesture.
“It's all for show, it's like 'I'm a second rights guy, you know, look at me,'” said Bill Swenson.
Swenson was one of a couple dozen protesters across the street.
The group wanted to show there’s pushback on some of Kobach’s ideas.
“To make sure that his ideas don't go unchallenged, whether it be from his anti immigrant ideas or his attacks on voting rights or his willingness to stand uncritically with those who share harmful ideas. We want to make sure that Kansas knows that there's an alternative perspective,” said Zachery Mueller, a researcher with the Kobach Is Wrong For Kansas PAC.
Kobach takes the protesting in stride.
“Whenever someone is actually effective then the protesters show up and that's the way I see it,” he said.
Inside the community center, supporters think the protesting isn’t necessary and don’t think Kobach is too extreme.
“We are definitely for Kris Kobach, I believe in what he is doing. I think he is very cricitally important for people who have identification when they vote, I don't think there's anything wrong with that,” said Carol Roberts.
The event lasted about 90 minutes.
Several other candidates are in the field, but he and current Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer appear to be leading the pack.
The primaries are on August 7th.
