Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for PMKThe Dixie Chicks aren't afraid of mixing art and politics.
Natalie Maines' controversial comments about George W. Bush back in 2003 could've ended her country music career, but the singer and band-mates Emily Robison and Martie Maguire aren't about to stop using their stage as a platform. Just last night the Texas-based trio kicked off their DCX MMXVI World Tour in Cincinnati and made it they've got a new political foe: Donald Trump.
The Dixie Chicks performed their 1999 hit "Goodbye Earl" against a background that showed Trump with devil horns and a comical mustache and goatee.
Maines previously took aim at Trump back in January with with a seemingly playful tweet:
As long as Donald Trump's decisions for America are as solid as his decision about his hair, we're in good shape.
— Natalie Maines (@1NatalieMaines) January 24, 2016
She also expressed her grievances with his former Republican primary opponent, Ted Cruz, tweeting:
Just so you know....I'm ashamed Ted Cruz is from America;) pic.twitter.com/QU39ERnAzN
— Natalie Maines (@1NatalieMaines) January 24, 2016
When Maines learned of Cruz's naturalized citizenship (he was actually born in Canada), she followed up:
I stand corrected...Just so you know, I'm ashamed Ted Cruz claims to be American. pic.twitter.com/JUltNImOXH
— Natalie Maines (@1NatalieMaines) January 24, 2016
Maines is well aware that her political commentary can have ramifications. Ten years after her infamous Bush comments in 2003, the singer told Rolling Stone, "I joke that I have PTSD, but there's probably truth in that joke."
But she doesn't regret speaking out in the first place. "It all put an ugly light on people that I was kind of happily naive to," she said. "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."