‘Masked Singer’ contestant John Schneider may be under Secret Service investigation after saying Biden should be ‘publicly hanged’

The former star of The Dukes of Hazzard denied threatening the president in a now-deleted social media post, but a Secret Service spokesperson said the agency “investigates all threats.”

Former Dukes of Hazzard Star and electricity Masked Singer US presidential candidate John Schneider may face a Secret Service investigation after he called on social media to “publicly hang” President Joe Biden.

Earlier this week, Schneider was unmasked on Fox’s popular singing competition show while dressed as a doughnut singing Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful.” However, the 63-year-old actor later made headlines when he made a post on social media site X (formerly known as Twitter) calling the president a traitor and calling for his public execution.

“Mr. President, I believe you are guilty of treason and should be publicly hanged,” Schneider wrote in the now-deleted post. “So is your son. Your answer is…? Sincerely, John Schneider.”

On Friday, Deadline published an article suggesting that the Secret Service has launched an investigation into Schneider’s comments. A Secret Service spokesperson told EW that they were “aware of Mr. Schneider’s comments” but “we do not typically comment on matters involving intelligence information.”

“What we can say, however, is that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protected individuals,” the spokesperson continued.

Schneider has since walked back his comments and denied threatening the president. “Seriously, folks? This is my last comment on this,” he said in a statement provided to EW on Thursday. “I did not say or imply anything like that. Despite headlines claiming otherwise, my post 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.”

“I believe, and have every right to believe, that some of our leaders in Washington have lost their way and that corruption is rampant both at our borders and abroad,” he continued. “For our constitutional republic to survive, there must be transparency and accountability. This statement is not meant as a threat, implicit or otherwise.”

Earlier this week, in an interview before his unveiling on The masked singer, Schneider told EW that performing as Donut “helped him heal” after his wife, Alicia Allain Schneider, died in February.

“I know there are many people out there who are grieving, and I like to think that this story, which TMS “It’s important for me to help other people not only get through their grief, but to get through it during the holidays,” Schneider said. “This is my first Christmas, my first New Year’s without Alicia here by my side. So this is a hard time. But now, I mean now, when people know that it was me, I think I’m going to start a whole new area of ​​healing, because people have said they feel better after hearing what I talked about on the show.”

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