Country music star Carrie Underwood made headlines earlier today when it was announced she'd be one of two artists performing at Donald Trump's Inauguration. Underwood will be performing “America the Beautiful” along with the Armed Forces Chorus and the United States Naval Academy Glee Club immediately before Trump takes the oath of office to officially become the 47th President of the United States. The news started spreading online with a snapshot of a program for the inauguration that's set to take place next week on January 20. https://twitter.com/MatthewFoldi/status/1878832238990897288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1878832238990897288%7Ctwgr%5Ee70c365181cd858888a0e830190fa7d5fcbe9615%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whiskeyriff.com%2F2025%2F01%2F13%2Fcarrie-underwood-donald-trump-inauguration%2F As you might imagine, the announcement set off a flurry of, "Why would Carrie Underwood do this?" posts on social media. Many that are critical of the country star choosing to perform at the former and soon-to-be president's swearing in have pointed out the history of the rumored affairs that Donald Trump has had, and juxtaposed that with one of Carrie's hit songs "Before He Cheats." Then there have just been posts like these: Oh no! Why Carrie, why!? — Amit Divecha (@AmitDivecha1) January 13, 2025 No longer a Carrie Underwood fan. — ctw279 ??❄️? (@ctw279) January 13, 2025 Kelly Clarkson would never — ???? (@arikbeyhive) January 13, 2025 Underwood has never been one to be outspoken about her politic beliefs, but the Oklahoma native has never been afraid to share her faith and frequently performs at her hometown church in Nashville, Tennessee. If you were to try and figure out her political leanings, you could reference the firestorm that Carrie set off when she liked a tweet from conservative commentator Matt Walsh that opposed mask requirements for school children. The only other example(s) that one could point to is when Underwood has stood by her husband - retired NHL star Mike Fisher. He's been more open to sharing his political views, as he's campaigned for Republican candidates in the past and stood with Aaron Rodgers in opposing vaccine mandates back in 2021. One could say that the act of singing "America the Beautiful" at Trump's inauguration will be the most political that Underwood has ever been in her entire career, but jumping to that conclusion is a bit of a stretch. In the statement that she released about her upcoming appearance that, yes, is technically in support of Donald Trump, the country singer basically said that she's performing in hopes that it will foster unity: "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." https://twitter.com/PopBase/status/1878890944319414451 If you ask me, it seems like this is just the typical social media machine at work. Carrie Underwood clearly felt honored that the President of the United States requested that she sing "America the Beautiful," and that's why she's choosing to do so. That's caused some online to be outraged, and feel betrayed by the country star. All I'll say is not everything has to be a political statement... this could just be Carrie feeling as though singing at an inauguration is the least she could do for the great country she calls home.