Natalie Maines, the lead singer for the Dixie Chicks, has once again decided to bash a U.S. president (after taking eight years off during Barack Obama’s terms in the White House).
Maines weighed in (finally!) with her thoughts about President Trump, posting a sarcastic message on Instagram and Twitter. “Listen, I think it’s unbelievable how people are badmouthing the President! It’s unacceptable! This is our President! How dare you make fun of the mentally ill and elderly? Not to mention, he’s the President of our United States Of America! Unbelievable. Don’t you know we live in a democracy?! You can’t do that sort of thing. What are you thinking?!”
Of course, Maines was a day late and a dollar short (as per usual). Her post came just a few days after President Trump had his annual phsyical, in which doctor Ronny Jackson declared him in “excellent health.”
“The President’s physical exam today at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center went exceptionally well,” Dr. Jackson said in a Friday statement . “The President is in excellent health.” The doctor is set to brief reporters on Tuesday with some of his findings.
It’s not the first time Maines and the Dixie Chicks have taken aim at Trump. In a June 2016 show in Cincinnati, the all-female band performed in front of a backdrop showing Trump with devil horns coming out of his head. Maines also tweeted about Trump’s hair, saying, “As long as Donald Trump’s decisions for America are as solid as his decision about his hair, we’re in good shape.”
The Dixie Chicks love bashing the U.S. president, provided he’s a Republican. In March 2003 — from overseas, no less, — Maines ripped President George W. Bush, a move that brought their rising careers to a halt.
The Texas-based trio was performing at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire theater in London, England. As Maines introduced the Chicks’ latest single, “Travelin’ Soldier,” she said, “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.”
The fallout was swift, reported The Boot: “While the Dixie Chicks formed a united front in the wake of the controversy, finishing their tour and putting out one more album, 2006’s Taking the Long Way, the backlash over that comment ultimately ended their career as superstars. While Taking the Long Way soared to No. 1, their only Top 40 single from the record was ‘Not Ready to Make Nice,’ which they wrote about their banishment from the industry following the comment.”
Country stations across the United States pulled the Chicks from playlists. One station in Kansas City, Missouri, held a Dixie “chicken toss” party in which people dumped the group’s tapes, CDs and concert tickets into trash cans. The group went on “indefinite hiatus” and didn’t perform for several years.
But it’s totally OK now to bash Trump — everyone’s doing it. Perhaps the Chicks feel as if they can rekindle their golden days by criticizing the American president.
But let’s hope the “elderly” — perhaps including Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders — take up arms this time.