John Rich Shows Support For Carrie Underwood Amid Anti-Mask Backlash: “She’s A Tough Okie Gal”

John Rich is standing up for Carrie Underwood amid backlash.

On Tuesday (Aug. 17) afternoon, Rich took to his Twitter to showcase his support for Underwood as she faces extensive backlash on Twitter after liking an anti-mask Tweet from conservative commentator and host of The Matt Walsh Show, Matt Walsh.

When the news broke that the “Cry Pretty” singer supported the anti-mask Tweet, which Walsh “spoke out against the cruel and indefensible mask mandate for children,” thousands of Twitter users attacked the Oklahoma native.

Fellow country superstar and one half of popular country duo Big & Rich also shared his thoughts on the situation via Twitter, following outrage by hundreds of Twitter users. However, he thinks Underwood should be able to share whatever she wants to on Twitter.

“I say @carrieunderwood can like whatever tweet she wants to like. Who are “they” to shout her down?” Rich tweeted late Tuesday afternoon. “Watch out, she’s a tough Okie gal:) You see what’s going on here? It’s “freedom of speech unless you disagree with the mob.” #CarrieTakeTheWheel”

https://t.co/1M7m6Lfjfz
I say @carrieunderwood can like whatever tweet she wants to like. Who are "they" to shout her down? Watch out, she's a tough Okie gal:) You see what's going on here? It's "freedom of speech unless you disagree with the mob." #CarrieTakeTheWheel

— John Rich🇺🇸 (@johnrich) August 17, 2021

While some users, like Rich, supported Underwood, many were outraged. 

“I just deleted all of Carrie Underwood songs from my Spotify. I’m not supporting that! #WearAMask,” one user wrote. 

Another user shared, “Carrie Underwood being a God-over-Science person is the least surprising thing I’ve heard today. Delta take the wheel…”

Walsh’s video embedded within his Tweet has over 1.1 million views. 

In the clip, Walsh said that he believes Covid-19 poses “almost no threat to our kids at all,” and that a mask mandate should be seen as “child abuse.” He went on to criticize the school board for “teaching them that the air is toxic, that everyone around them is sick.”

Masking children in schools is a hot topic in the state of Tennessee this week. Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, signed an executive order on Monday (Aug. 16) allowing parents to opt out of mask mandates at school.  

The executive order comes as the state of Tennessee is reporting a surge in Covid-19 cases among children. According to Tennessee Department of Health data, 9,074 school-aged children have tested positive for the virus in the past 14 days. The number of children infected has increased by 950% in just one month, according to Fox 17.