Indie singer Loomis is explaining herself after she was blasted for horribly botching a rendition of the national anthem at the Free & Equal Presidential Debate between three third-party presidential candidates.

The singer was asked to sing the anthem ahead of the debate between Chase Oliver (Libertarian Party,) Dr. Jill Stein (Green Party) and Randall Terry (Constitution Party) in Los Angeles, but her attempt at the song quickly fell apart.

Mid song, her voice cracked prompting her to curse and then ask for a do-over, saying, “I fucked it up, I fucked it up, can I go back please?” she said.

But after she asked the question, she was told by stage staff that she was live, not being recorded. She then dove back in to finish the song.

Now, Loomis is telling TMZ that she was very confused that night, thought that the whole thing was going to be recorded, and that she was very nervous to do the song from the start.

Loomis told TM that the Star Spangled Banner has always been a scary prospect for her.

“Since I was a little girl, I always said I don’t want to sing the national anthem, it’s like the scariest thing to me ever because everyone’s all standing up so serious everyone’s all quiet,” she explained.

But there was a lot of confusion for her on the debate stage, she explained.

“I really do sing and I am really a good singer. So, what had happened was I didn’t know it was live,” she told TMZ.

“When we got to the spot and then I got nervous and then I was scared, but it was crazy,” Loomis continued.

To date, no third party candidate has ever come close to winning a presidential contest. Serious efforts were made in 1980 when John Anderson faced Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, then Ross Perot, who took a shot in 1992 against Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, and also Ron Paul, who ran in 2008 against Barack Obama and John McCain. But the third party candidate who made the best showing was in 1912 when Theodore Roosevelt unsuccessfully ran for a third term against Woodrow Wilson and William Howard Taft. Roosevelt actually came in second to eventual winner Woodrow Wilson.

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