Many conservative Americans are seething over President Joe Bidenās decision to remove singer Lee Greenwood from the National Council on the Arts.
The singer, whose signature āGod Bless the U.S.A.ā has been played at patriotic events ever since Greenwood penned the anthem in 1984, said he was surprised at his ouster from the panel after having been first appointed by former President George W. Bush.
āSo, hearing now under the Biden administration and heās cleaned house and finally heās fired a patriot. I was quite shocked to tell you the truth. I didnāt get a phone call or letter. It was just an email,ā Greenwood said in a āFox & Friendsā interview Thursday.
Greenwood will be the subject of a tribute on Oct. 12 in Huntsville, Alabama.
The news of Greenwoodās removal from the organization irked Perry O. Hooper Jr., chairman of the Lee Greenwood VIP Dinner that will be held in conjunction with the tribute.
āI went from shock to anger,ā Hooper said in a statement released Thursday. āI guess there is no room for a true American Patriot in Joe Bidenās world. From Woke Generals running the Military to the National Endowment of the Arts he wants to tear down the America we love.
āThis is disgusting. Leeās masterpiece āGod Bless the USAā has become a patriotic hymn behind only the National Anthem and God Bless America in importance to the soul of our great country,ā the statement said.
Hooper said he believes the concert now takes on a new significance.
āOnce the word of this firing gets out, this sold-out event will become standing room only as Alabamians show their support for an adopted favorite son, Lee Greenwood,ā Hooper stated.
Many vented their outrage on Twitter:
In an interview with Newsmax in May, Greenwood said the United States of America is a very special place ā and he wrote the song to reflect that.
āEverywhere I go, I see people who want to be just an American. They just want to have a great life and live every single day helping their neighbors and helping veterans,ā he said.
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āGod Bless the U.S.A.,ā Greenwood said, āreflects for me the freedom that I had to do, what I wanted to do to make my life fun and it is. I thank every single soldier, sailor, Marine, Coast Guard, Space X people that are doing their very best to make this country free.ā
Bidenās nominations to the Council on the Arts were announced on June 23. The names of those removed from the council were not announced at the time.
According to the National Endowment for the Arts website, the National Council on the Arts includes 18 citizens members and six members of Congress, who serve in a non-voting capacity. Its citizen members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate for six-year terms.
Greenwood was most recently appointed in 2014.
Bidenās nominees to the National Council on the Arts were: Huascar Medina, the poet laureate of Kansas; Fiona Prine, president of Oh Boy Records; Kamilah Forbes, executive producer at the Apollo Theater and director of Broadwayās āSoul Trainā; Jake Shimabukuro, international ukelele player; Ismael Ahmed, co-founder of the Arab American National Museum of Dearborn, Michigan; Kinan Azmeh, clarinetist and director of the Damascus Festival Chamber Players; Christopher Morgan, Washington dance choreographer; and Constance Williams, businesswoman, politician and chair of the board of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.