Carrie Underwood's Alleged Political Move Said to Be Targeting Taylor Swift: 'Marking Her Territory as Miss Americana'

Fans were shocked when Carrie Underwood sang "America the Beautiful" at the inauguration of President Donald Trump in January.

The 42-year-old country music icon's decision to participate raised eyebrows, especially given her long-standing connection to the country music community and her previous avoidance of overt political stances.

Rumors began flying about if the performance was a political alignment with the MAGA movement or if this was a desperate bid to regain relevancy.

An insider told the Daily Mail that the performance could have been included in a complicated and perhaps long-rooted competition with fellow country influencer Taylor Swift, who has taken a stand on a lot of political issues recently.

A Feud Years in the Making

People close to Swift reportedly think Underwood took the Trump inauguration job out of spite toward the former. They had some beef in the not-so-distant past and Swift famously supported Kamala Harris. Some believe this could also be Underwood's way of "marking her territory as Miss Americana" in country music post-election — or so an insider claimed, saying, "Some people in the industry think this is Carrie's way of marking her territory as 'Miss Americana' after her side won the election."

This is not the first time the feud between the two stars has been a topic of discussion, with tensions seemingly brewing over the years. Swift and Underwood, bursting into pop culture at a similar era, have consistently compared from the fandom and critical worlds alike. The two were hailed as country music's sweethearts early in both of their careers but soon took very different roads, with Swift crossing over to perform pop music — a move that reportedly has not gone over big with Underwood.

A source close to Underwood told Daily Mail, "Carrie feels that Taylor truly sold out going from country to pop. She's held onto some jealousy about it."

And that feeling has reportedly stoked their rivalry for years. For example, Underwood made headlines on "American Idol" a while ago, comparing the vocal style of a contestant to that of Swift, saying, "She doesn't have this giant vibrato, belty voice, but there's something in there."

Sources say the comment was actually a jab at Swift disguised as an observation.

Underwood has alluded to not caring for Swift's heavier pop direction in interviews throughout the years. When asked in 2011 about her own musical image, Underwood said, "I'm a little bit older than she is and I feel like our music is completely different, and if anyone tries to make any comparisons, they really haven't listened to either one of us."

The gap was reportedly widened by Swift's and Underwood's different political views. Swift has long been associated with political endorsements, such as those of  Harris and, also, Joe Biden, and has use her influence throughout the years to support progressive causes. At the same time, Underwood, whose classical views are regarded as conservative, has tried to remove herself from politics even as her connections and her husband's views have drawn her to conservative causes.

Tags

Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood