John Schneider, a “Dukes of Hazzard” alum, is reportedly under investigation by the Secret Service. This comes after he suggested on social media that President Biden should be “publicly hung.”
Deadline reported on Thursday that the federal agency has initiated a probe. A Secret Service representative did not confirm the investigation to Page Six. However, they did indicate that they are “aware” of the situation involving Schneider, who is 63.
“The Secret Service is aware of the comments made by Mr. Schneider,” spokesman Steven Kopek told us on Friday. He added, “As a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence.”
Kopek also mentioned that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to their protectees. Schneider’s controversial post, which raised alarms, has since been deleted. It was originally sent directly to Biden, 81, at 2:02 a.m. on Thursday.
The post read, “Mr. President, I believe you are guilty of treason and should be publicly hung. Your son too. Your response is..? Sincerely, John Schneider.”
Schneider, who gained fame as Beauregard “Bo” Duke, responded via his rep on Friday. “Seriously, folks? This is my final comment on this. I neither said nor implied any such thing,” he said.
He continued, “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.”
Schneider then seemed to defend his initial stance by hinting at his right to free speech. He stated, “It’s my position, which I am entitled to have, that some of our nation’s leaders in Washington have lost their way, and corruption runs rampant, both on our nation’s borders and abroad.”
He concluded, “Transparency and accountability must happen in order for our constitutional republic to survive. There is no threat implied or otherwise in that statement.”
Despite retracting his initial post, Schneider is quite vocal about his political views on social media. Another post on his X account, previously known on Twitter, shared on Oct. 11 reads, “Can anyone deny that Joe Biden has funded the Hamas barbaric and inhumane attack on Israel?
“6 billion in liquidity goes a long way. A long way toward hell. What will American hostages cost this time? Biden has put a price on the head of all Americans traveling abroad.”
Schneider recently experienced a difficult time in his personal life when he lost his wife, Alicia Allain, in February after a two-year battle with breast cancer. Just a few days after her passing, the “The Haves and the Have Nots” alum took to Facebook to share how he “desperately” missed her.
“Grief is much too small a word,” he added in his post at the time. “I’ve heard it said that ‘with great love comes great sorrow.’ I had no idea what that meant until now.”
Schneider had a moment of happiness, though, when he appeared on the most recent season of “The Masked Singer” as the Donut. He said on Wednesday’s episode, in which he was eliminated, “God knows that I could really, really use a little joy in my life right now, and winning would give me great, great, great joy.”
Schneider placed second in the masked singing competition show, which was ultimately won by Ne-Yo.