John Schneider, actor and donut, has issued a statement denying that he threatened violence against President Joe Biden. The former Duke of Hazzards star, who was recently unmasked as a sweet treat on The Masked Singer, took to X earlier this week to share a since-deleted post addressed to the president. “I believe you are guilty of treason and should be public hung [sic],” he wrote. “Your son too. Your response is..? Sincerely, John Schneider.” Deadline later reported that the Secret Service opened a probe into Schneider’s comments. (A spokesperson for the federal agency told EW that the Secret Service does not comment on matters involving protective intelligence, but noted that it does investigate “all threats related to our protectees.”)
Schneider initially shared a short statement to Deadline denying that he had called for any violence or threatened the president. He then doubled down in a lengthier statement that he called his “final comment” on the situation. “I neither said nor implied any such thing,” Schneider said. “Despite headlines claiming otherwise, in my post, I absolutely did not call for an act of violence or threaten a U.S. president as many other celebrities have done in the past. I suggest you re-read my actual post and pay attention to the words before believing this nonsense.” He added that he is entitled to his position that some leaders in Washington have “lost their way,” and that corruption is “rampant” on the U.S. borders and abroad. “Transparency and accountability must happen in order for our constitutional republic to survive,” he concluded. “There is no threat implied or otherwise in that statement.” Now, it’s just up to the Secret Service to decide whether to glaze over this donut’s words.
