Never been afraid to speak her mind.
Natalie Maines has obviously made headlines for her outspoken political opinions in the past. The lead singer of The Chicks famously set off a firestorm back in 2003 with comments on the Iraq war and then-President George W. Bush, telling a crowd during a concert in London that she was “ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.”
The backlash back then was swift and severe, with radio stations pulling their music and blacklisting the Dixie Chicks (as they were known at the time) from their playlists, fans burning their albums in protest, and members of the band even receiving death threats over the comments from Maines.
Now, obviously times are different now, and with country music artists as politically divided as the rest of society is these days, I think it’s safe to say that her comments wouldn’t spark near the backlash today as they did back in 2003 when our country was less than two years removed from the 9/11 terror attacks.
One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is that Maines still isn’t afraid to give her opinion.
The Chicks have remained politically outspoken, criticizing President Donald Trump and even performing at the Democratic National Convention back in 2024.
And this week, Maines took to social media to once again blast the president with an unhinged rant, which appears to have been deleted:
“Our democracy is disappearing right before our eyes. This fugly slut is using your gas money to pay the insurrectionists. But don’t worry about it. I’m sure posting selfies will fix everything. My last post that called him a fugly slut got removed. We’ll see how long this one lasts. Repost and help the message live.”
The comments are obviously divided on her post, but back when she first stirred controversy back in 2003 Maines had one powerful voice in country music supporting her: Merle Haggard.
Haggard didn’t like that the group couldn’t speak their mind on the state of the country, and back in 2003 penned an essay on his website speaking out on behalf of free speech:
“I don’t even know the Dixie Chicks, but I find it an insult for all men and women who fought and died in past wars when almost the majority of America jumped down their throats for voicing an opinion.
It was like a verbal witch-hunt and lynching.”
He also added that he was a fan of Toby Keith as well (who was vocally opposed to the Dixie Chicks’ condemnation of George W. Bush at the time), however he was troubled by the opposition to free speech.
“Because they don’t like George Bush, should we take their records off? I really found that sort of scary.
Are we afraid of criticism? And if so, why? It seems to me, we’re guilty in this country of doing everything we’ve always opposed all my life. I’m almost afraid to say something.
It got to the point where my wife said, ‘Be careful what you say.’ Well, that’s really not the America I’m used to.”
Man, Merle… if only you were alive to see the state of things today…
