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Carrie Underwood has attracted criticism after being named as a performer at Donald Trump’s upcoming inauguration, sparking questions around the singer’s previous political stances. For context, the musician was recently tapped as the headliner for the inaugural festivities, which will take place in Washington D.C. Underwood, who has largely shied away from political commentary in the past, will perform the song “America The Beautiful” immediately prior to the president-elect’s swearing in ceremony.
“I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the Inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event,” Underwood said of the upcoming gig in a press statement. “I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future.” Naturally, the American Idol alum’s appearance at the event has seen renewed interest in her past comments around political issues like the COVID-19 pandemic, the LGBTQ community, and the Make America Great Again movement.
Underwood’s upcoming performance at Trump’s inauguration seems to contradict her previous efforts to remain apolitical. In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, the singer said she tries “to stay as far out of politics if possible, at least in public, because nobody wins.” Underwood went on to say that “people try to pin [her] places politically,” but that her stances can’t be “sum[med] up with a bow on it” because “it’s not black and white.” Despite this, Underwood has in the past poked fun at Trump while serving as the co-host of the 2016 Country Music Awards.
During that show, Underwood performed a parody of her song “Before He Cheats,” by replacing the iconic chorus lyrics with “before he tweets,” in reference to Trump’s social media activity during that year’s presidential campaign. Years prior, Underwood’s political affiliations reared their head when she came out in support of gay marriage in a 2012 interview with The Independent.
“We should all have the right to love.”
“As a married person myself, I don’t know what it’s like to be told I can’t marry somebody I love, and want to marry,” the singer told the publication. “I definitely think we should all have the right to love, and love publicly, the people that we want to love.” After attracting criticism from some conservatives for those comments — including from the Christian nonprofit organization, American Family Association — Underwood clarified that her statement was a spur of the moment aside in the interview, and not an official declaration of where she stood on the issue of gay marriage.
Carrie Underwood attracted controversy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Underwood largely steered clear of criticisms over her politics until the COVID-19 pandemic, when she caught the ire of some onlookers for her social media activity. On then-Twitter, Underwood’s account appeared to “like” a post which rallied against the use of mask mandates for school children in Nashville. The post itself was shared by conservative political podcaster Matt Walsh, who compared kids wearing masks to “wearing muzzles like rabid dogs.”
Underwood’s stance on COVID-19 again came to a head in 2021, when her husband, Mike Fisher, shared an Instagram post in support of NFL player and noted anti-vaxxer, Aaron Rodgers. Around that time, Rodgers had publicly claimed that vaccine mandates were “ignoring the science,” and Fisher’s post co-signed that stance, writing that he “stand[s] with Aaron Rodgers.” Many took Underwood’s “liking” of her husband’s post as evidence that she was also an anti-vaxxer, though she never officially revealed her thoughts on the matter.