The Dixie Chicks kicked off their DCX MMXVI World Tour Friday in Cincinnati by performing in front of a massive backdrop showing Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump with devil horns on his head and a satanic mustache and goatee.
Last night’s politically-charged performance wasn’t the first time the Texas-based country music band used their celebrity status to take shots at a major Republican party leader.
During a performance in London in 2003, Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines told the crowd that she was “ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.” Maines’ attack on President George W. Bush led to music stations across the United States pulling the Chicks from their radio playlists.
Nearly 10 years after attacking Bush, Maines doubled down, saying, “I was right from the beginning.”
She later tweeted that she was right to attack Bush, calling her detractors “#dummies.”
The 41-year-old has bashed Trump before Friday’s night concert. The singer took to Twitter back in January and tossed out a recycled joke about Donald Trump’s hair.
Maines saved her most scathing rebukes for then-Republican candidate Senator Ted Cruz, noting that she is “ashamed” that he is from America.
Maines said that her decision to criticized President Bush in 2003 resulted in some psychological grief.
“I joke that I have PTSD, but there’s probably truth in that joke,” the singer told Rolling Stone. “But when I was going through it, I really didn’t feel like it was affecting me. I was in fight mode and battle mode, and I felt, you know, I was right, and free to say what I want to say.”
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson