Charley Crockett Says ‘Country Music Should Be Taking Notes’ From Bad Bunny

Charley Crockett did what very few in country music have ever done: publicly called out President Trump.

In a lengthy, wide-ranging social media post, the Texas country singer declared Trump a “grifter,” said Elon Musk should be deported, and sharply contrasted the Grammy Awards speeches of Jelly Roll and Bad Bunny.

“When I was at the Grammys the other night I saw a guy get up and talk about Jesus, and then I saw Bad Bunny get up there and talk like Jesus. The country music establishment should be taking notes on a Puerto Rican American who hasn’t forgotten his heritage and brought his culture’s traditional music back to the front, showing the world something new with it,” Crockett wrote.

Bad Bunny, of course, has been a target of the right since he was announced as the halftime performer of Super Bowl LX. Following his joyous, Spanish-language performance on Sunday night, the vitriol only increased, with Trump ranting that the production was “a ‘slap in the face’ to our Country.”

Crockett, who says he’s been criticized for his cowboy-singer persona, went on to talk about the convicted felon in the White House.

“They keep saying I’m a cosplay cowboy but they love a cosplay president,” he wrote. “The President is a grifter who bankrupted 6 casinos. That’s pretty extraordinary considering it’s a rigged business in favor of the house. The only thing he’s good at is filing lawsuits and portraying a successful business man as a reality TV actor. Last time I checked Elon Musk was an immigrant from South Africa but there he is standing in the White House buying our elections. Let’s deport his ass.” He added that far-right billionaire investor Peter Thiel should join him since, “they both openly believe in a post democratic society where men of their class are above the law.”

Crockett has rarely minced his words. Last summer, he was embroiled in an online feud with country singer Gavin Adcock over the idea of “authenticity” in the genre, and shared his thoughts on Music Row-produced country music. “I don’t think they stand for anything. They stand for Auto-Tune and songs written by a committee,” he told Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast. “Outlaw was about standing up for your rights against a very rigid music-business system. In a game where you throw money at a young artist, and if it doesn’t work out, no problem, because there’s 1,000 standing behind you, well, a controversial figure is unlikely to ever rise.”

Crockett, who is gearing up to release a new album this year, wrapped his post about Trump by speaking to the segment of people who still support him. “If you can sleep at night licking their boots that’s between you and yours, but that type of thinking isn’t freedom. It’s mental slavery,” he said. “Judge a man by how he treats the poor and those who he views as being able to do nothing for him.”