Carrie Underwood says she strove for “unity” by performing at President Donald Trump’s inauguration, but she apparently didn’t win over fellow pop artist Ariana Grande.
Underwood sang “America the Beautiful” without musical accompaniment due to an unspecified issue with the audio system. Though many praised the country musician’s a cappella rendition, journalist and social media personality Evan Ross Katz offered a critical take.
“Kamala Harris evoking Coco Montrese (‘Girl, find the note’) watching Carrie Underwood at today’s chilling Inauguration,” Katz wrote Monday on Instagram alongside a photo that showed the former vice president watching Underwood’s performance.
The caption was a reference to “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Montrese, who advised a contestant to “find the note” in a 2016 episode of the competition series.
By Tuesday, BuzzFeed, People and other media outlets pointed out that Grande had liked Katz’s photo.
The “Wicked” star’s reaction isn’t particularly surprising, given her endorsement of Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Shortly after Trump’s victory was announced in November, she reportedly wrote on her Instagram Stories: “Holding the hand of every person who is feeling the immeasurable heaviness of this outcome today.”
Underwood’s decision to sing at Trump’s inauguration took many of her fans by surprise. The eight-time Grammy winner and “American Idol” veteran publicly expressed her support for same-sex marriage in 2012, prompting many LGBTQ+ listeners to believe they’d found a rare ally in country music, which is still perceived as conservative.
But in recent years, Underwood began to seemingly back more conservative beliefs, most notably in 2020, when she liked a video on X, formerly Twitter, in which right-wing podcaster Matt Walsh denounced COVID-19 mask mandates for children.
When it was announced that Underwood would perform on Inauguration Day, she said in a statement: “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. 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.”
In an opinion essay for MSNBC, Nashville-based journalist Hunter Kelly called Underwood’s performance “a big win for the right,” noting: “Unlike in 2016, there is little risk of Underwood losing her key partnerships as a result of her ties to Trump.”
