Country singer Carrie Underwood caused controversy in early January after it was revealed that she agreed to perform at President Donald Trump’s inauguration. After this somewhat unexpected news was announced, I was disappointed despite not being a fan of hers.
After Underwood performed at the inauguration, her popular song “Before He Cheats” played at one of my swim practices as we were in the water. I immediately recognized the song and I felt my entire mood shift. Instead of feeling focused on my practice, I kept annoyingly thinking “Can we skip this song?” Underwood’s song is very well-known; however, after she performed at the inauguration, I feel uninterested in supporting her at all.
Many Americans were also upset about Underwood’s decision. Her Instagram account was quickly flooded with negative comments on her latest post from when the news broke.
“I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the Inauguration,” Underwood told The Hollywood Reporter prior to the inauguration. “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.”
Although this is not exactly an endorsement of Trump, she still chose to perform at his introduction back into the White House.
After Trump won the election in 2024, he announced that he plans to end birthright citizenship for children whose parents are not citizens, separate the Education Department, pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement and more. Of course, people are going to be upset at Underwood’s decision to perform at the inauguration. Trump’s plans will hurt our country and the rest of the world deeply within the next four years.
Other performers from the inauguration such as Nelly have been receiving a smaller amount of backlash. As reported by Billboard, Nelly’s music was streamed 1.54 million times on inauguration day, but that was down from 1.63 million a week earlier.
I think the backlash Underwood has been receiving can be justified. For fans and non-fans, it is a way of protesting against our new president’s hurtful plans for our country and may be eye-opening for Underwood herself.
jcaramag@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @TheTorontoSun, X
