Fans Aren't Happy That Carrie Underwood Is Performing At Trump's Inauguration

American Idol winner, singer, and now judge, Carrie Underwood, will be performing at fellow reality TV star President-Elect Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20, and her fans are highly unimpressed.

Trump was inaugurated for the first time on January 20, 2017, and famously struggled to book talent as he prepared to take the White House for the first time.

Just one week before his 2017 inauguration, The Guardian reported that country singer Toby Keith – who has since passed away – had been successfully booked.

To that point in time, Trump's first-term transition team had only managed to book "a teenage singer ... who launched a successful career after appearing on the reality TV competition America’s Got Talent":

"Donald Trump seemed to have been struggling to lure any major names to his inauguration – which he insisted [in January 2017] would be 'elegant' and 'very special' – until [January 13, 2017], when he announced an appearance by the leading country artist Toby Keith.

"Trump also unveiled the southern rock band 3 Doors Down and singer Jennifer Holliday who will perform, like Keith, the day before the inauguration at the welcome celebration on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial."

Eight years to the day, news of Carrie Underwood committing to perform at Trump's second inauguration broke.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of a program for the inauguration detailing Carrie's involvement.

Per the outlet, Carrie later issued 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."

As we previously reported, Carrie is headed back to American Idol for Season 23 – as a judge – but fans were horrified at her decision to perform at Trump's inauguration.

Carrie's Former Fans Flooded Her Instagram Comments

News of Carrie's scheduled rendition of "America The Beautiful" at Trump's inauguration broke on Monday, January 13.

That same day, Jezebel published "Welp, Carrie Underwood Officially Comes Out as MAGA," with a headline associating Carrie with Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

Describing Carrie as "a Trump Republican," Jezebel pointed out that Carrie's involvement marked "a pretty big upgrade from his 2017 inauguration, when he was turned down by multiple A-listers, including Elton John, Céline Dion, Andrea Bocelli and Garth Brooks," when the "biggest performer he had during his first swearing-in was Jackie Evancho, who was the 2010 runner-up of America’s Got Talent."

Over on Reddit, threads on r/popheads and r/Fauxmoi focused on Carrie's inauguration gig, and fans were roundly displeased.

On r/Fauxmoi, the top comment quoted a linked article and simply added "Bye," while another user commented:

I've never blocked an artist on Spotify so fast.

Someone else said: "Judas took the wheel on this one."

On r/popheads, a user found the differences between 2017 and 2025 to be dismaying: "I remember when 3 Doors Down was the biggest band Trump could get for his first inauguration, now it seems that people are a lot more bold with supporting him this time around and it's very disheartening to see."

Another user referenced "Before He Cheats":

I hope that man cheats again.

At least one user speculated that Carrie was more moved by dollar signs than beliefs: "seeing that the inaugural committee has taken in more corrupt pay-to-play money from tech billionaire oligarchs than they could possibly spend, I'm guessing her paycheck for this is huge. I know I won't be forgetting this choice."

For some reason, Carrie didn't promote her Trump inauguration appearance, but fans flocked to a recent Reel to make their feelings known.

Visible comments were all along the same lines:

"Omg I was one of Carrie's biggest fan from day one on idol. To hear she is performing for Trump i sadly have to walk away as a fan."

"Well, we’re not considering you as a star anymore. You’ve kissed the ring of MAGA. How can you do this to other women much less yourself? It’s so pitiful."

"America the beautiful? Really? Gross, girl."

"Not a fan anymore now that she is supporting Trump's inauguration. So disappointing."

At least one former fan tagged @AmericanIdol, asking producers to stop "normalizing him by normalizing her by platforming her."

Carrie hasn't responded yet to the backlash around her performance at President-Elect Trump's second inauguration.