Country singer Luke Bryan did not back down from his decision to bring Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on stage during a concert in Jacksonville, Florida.
Footage of DeSantis joining Bryan on stage during a concert to raise money for victims impacted by Hurricane Ian sparked backlash over the weekend.
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Several users expressed their disapproval of Bryan’s decision.
One user tweeted, “Hey most people are good but is not one of them. I’m incredibly disappointed in you and will no longer support your music or as long as you’re on it. Ron Desantis is a hateful bigot. Shame on you Luke Bryan, shame on you.”
Another wrote, “Goes to music library to delete Luke Bryan songs. Realizes there are none to delete. Back to Night Ranger, thanks.”
https://twitter.com/Marmel/status/1586566091412631552
Check out more reactions below:
https://twitter.com/AnnemarieDalton/status/1586821902705647616
https://twitter.com/ZaleskiLuke/status/1586578024744501249
https://twitter.com/tdthomas117/status/1586567999678472193
Bryan went on to issue a statement detailing his reasoning behind the decision to involve DeSantis.
“I typically don’t respond to stuff when I’m getting run down on a social platform but here’s the deal,” Bryan wrote.
He added, “I understand Governor DeSantis is a very polarizing figure. But I grew up in a country where if a governor ask you if they can come and raise awareness to help victims of a natural disaster you help.”
The singer explained he has “generally stayed out of Politics throughout my career. I knew people would chatter about this but for me the more important piece was If I am going to come back there a few weeks after a large portion of people have been affected by a natural disaster in a state where people have been good to me this felt right.”
Read the statement below:
Concluding his statement, Bryan called on users to text “disaster to 20222 to support.”