On Carrie Underwood Performing at the Trump Inauguration


Well here we go again. And the same people who were defending Garth Brooks four years ago for showing up to President Biden’s inauguration by saying that it was non-political and about the office not the man, they are now calling Carrie Underwood a completely washed-up has-been who needs to be completely canceled.

That’s because politics is the domain of the irrational and hypocritical. And the seething, rage-filled bile that wells up in most people over the most inane and unimportant political matters makes otherwise intelligent individuals aggressively blind to the bigger picture.

So Carrie Underwood has accepted an invitation to sing “America the Beautiful” at the inauguration of President Trump. If someone had asked my opinion, I would have told her that this is publicity and exposure she doesn’t need, especially since she’s Carrie Underwood, and has made a career out of keeping her nose clean. That’s not an edict, or even a request, or even a political opinion in itself. It’s simply an objective assessment of the situation based off of the fact that Carrie Underwood will lose fans over this performance, fair or otherwise.

That doesn’t mean Carrie Underwood shouldn’t do it. If she wants to, and if she feels like it’s an honor or even an obligation as an American to participate in the inauguration when asked, then all power to her. Because yes, ideally this would be about the institution of the presidency as opposed to who specifically is assuming the office. But unfortunately, we are many years removed from that reality. Underwood may fully understand this and knows she will lose fans, and just doesn’t care. Or may think “good riddance.”

Carrie Underwood has always tried to be like a Dolly Parton character—judicious, careful, and friendly to every cohort and demographic. She’s a vegetarian. She’s mostly kept any political opinions to herself. But let’s face it. She’s no Dolly Parton. Nobody is. That’s why Dolly is Dolly.

But at the same time, politically-incited online activists have come for Carrie Underwood on multiple occasions over frivolous and spurious things, including blaming her for a COVID outbreak in Colorado (Spoiler Alert: We all ended up getting COVID), and attacking her literally for simply liking a Tweet of someone advocating against mask mandates for elementary school children. I know, the horror.

I wouldn’t be surprised if just like millions of Americans who voted in the last election, the incessant hectoring, public shaming, and scarlet lettering of anyone who dares keep a heterodox opinion actually pushed Carrie Underwood into the arms of the political right, if she in fact aligns in that manner. That’s what Saving Country Music has been warning activists against for years. All of these efforts to shame Americans into submission as opposed to persuasively explaining your position couldn’t have been more counter-productive to left-leaning causes.

Country music is now a right-leaning cultural institution. Ever since the cancellation of the [Dixie] Chicks in 2003, country music had been politically neutral, and neutered. Across the board, artists were told to keep their mouths shut when it came to politics. It was bad for business. And for the most part, performers complied. And honestly, most mainstream country musicians don’t want to upset or disappoint their fans. Believe it or not, country performers tend to not be especially political people, and don’t see it as their place to share their political opinions.

Ironically though, some of the people currently calling for Carrie Underwood’s cancellation are many of the same people who cite the [Dixie] Chicks cancellation as a blemish on country history (which it is, of course), 100% blind to the scathing hypocrisy they’re illustrating.


But after Jason Aldean’s wife became a punching bag for the political left, a big line was crossed, and country artists started coming out in droves on the political right. Jason Aldean, as well as Rascal Flatts will also be performing at the inauguration. I’m sure even more country artists will as well, and others wish they could. Congratulations activist journalists and academia trying to realign country music from red to blue. The plan demonstrably backfired.

Along those same lines, John Rich has piped up in all of his infinite stupidity, posting on X/Twitter at the Carrie Underwood news,

“There are several top tier country artists who support Trump, and I wish they’d finally have the balls to come forward and be counted. Ain’t nothing outlaw about keeping your mouth shut to appease the record label. Carrie Underwood is making you look like a bunch of sissy boys.”

But John Rich is constantly forgetting that on numerous occasions, he’s been the one who has advocated for entertainers to shut up about politics. In fact, he did a whole damn song about it.


Now all of a sudden you’re a “sissy” if you don’t tell your fans you support Trump? Does John Rich truly believe that any current mainstream country artists constitute “Outlaws”? Is there the possibility some might have voted for Trump as the lesser of two evils, and don’t necessarily want to broadcast their decision publicly? Or that some didn’t vote at all, or in fact, voted for Kamala Harris?

And most importantly, there’s a reason there is a curtain on the voter booth. If people choose to share who they voted for, that’s their prerogative. It’s also their right to chose not to. It feels distinctly anti-American to demand people identify who they voted for, and they definitely don’t need to be goaded by some washed-up one hit country wonder who leveraged his name recognition into a career as a hack political pundit.

Shut up about politics, John Rich.

After all, we saw how it worked out when Rolling Stone and others demanded artists speak out publicly about politics. Eventually, they did. But they didn’t say what Rolling Stone and others were hoping. Did they?

And how about all the “Support women in country!” people immediately turning on Carrie Underwood no different than they did Miranda Lambert for writing a song with Morgan Wallen. Sorry folks, either you’re actually for supporting the few country women who’ve found success like Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert, or you’re simply a political apparatchik using the issue as a proxy for your greater political aims.

Toby Keith performed at Donald Trumps first inauguration, just like he performed at functions for Barack Obama, who he endorsed for President by the way, all while he was being attacked for being a jingoistic right-winger. Because again, politics is the domain of the irrational.

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Four years from now, whoever is elected president will be compared to Adolf Hitler. Four years from now, we’ll be told that the election is the most important in the history of the United States, and if one party wins over another, the country will utterly fail. And four years from now, whoever performs at the inauguration will be called the most vile of vermin by 50% of the country.

This is why the United States is mired in a doom cycle, because half of the country is constantly laboring to undermine the other half, and we all spend so much time fighting ourselves, we don’t recognize the elite of society are fleecing us all.

Music is supposed to be a place apart from all of this, where we can all come together and enjoy something as a collective. And believe it or not, there was an era when the Presidential inauguration ceremony was non-partisan as well. Along with Carrie Underwood, President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama have also confirmed they will be at the Trump inauguration. Maybe we should cancel them too.

Or maybe, we should all just lighten the hell up a little bit.

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