The Country Music Association Awards got very political very quickly when the hosts opened Wednesday night’s show by mocking President Donald Trump
Country music superstars Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood kicked off the 51s annual awards show by wearing eclipse sunglasses, poking fun at the commander-in-chief – who at one point looked at August’s solar eclipse without wearing eye protection.
The pair also sang an opening song with the lyrics ‘Maybe next time he’ll think before he tweets’, a play on Underwood’s hit song ‘Before He Cheats’.
Country music superstars Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood kicked off Wednesday night’s CMA Awards show mocking President Trump by wearing eclipse sunglasses (above)
The gag poked fun at the commander-in-chief who at one point looked at August’s solar eclipse without wearing eye protection (Pictured, Trump puts on special glasses to look at the solar eclipse in August 2017)
The pair also sang an opening song with the lyrics ‘Maybe next time he’ll think before he tweets’, a play on Underwood’s hit 2005 song ‘Before He Cheats’
Paisley then strummed a guitar and sung a parody of Underwood’s 2005 hit.
‘Right now he’s probably in his PJs, watching cable news, reaching for his cell phone,’ Paisley sung.
Underwood joined in: ‘It’s fun to watch it that’s for sure, ’til little “Rocket Man” starts a nuclear war. Maybe next time he’ll think before he tweets.’
Several Twitter users took to the social media platform to express their delight at the hosts’ opening gags
Not all awards viewers were happy with Paisley and Underwood mocking Donald Trump
Fans took Twitter to express reactions – both positive and negative – to the pair’s opening gags.
‘Ok. ‘Before He Tweets.’ That. Was. Brilliant,’ wrote one user.
Conversely another tweeted: ‘Well even the #cmaawards has to open up by mocking the President. Time to find something else to watch that won’t involve politics.’
Ahead of Paisley and Underwood’s debut, they said they were going to be ‘equal opportunity offenders’ when it came to joking about political figures.
‘We’ve always said that we want to make fun of things that are funny,’ Underwood said on Tuesday on GMA. ‘It’s not about any political party or any person or any anything. It’s just about making fun of things that are funny.’
Paisley added that the duo is ‘equal opportunity when it comes to offense’.
This is not the first time that Paisley and Underwood have taken swings at political heads.
Last year, Paisley referred to his co-host as ‘Crooked Carrie’ while Underwood introduced to the audience the nominees for the Entertainer of the Year award – a jab at Trump referring to Hillary Clinton as ‘Crooked Hillary’.
Later, Underwood informed the crowd that they are all going home ‘with their very own basket of deplorables’, a reference to Clinton’s much-derided description of Trump supporters.
This is not the first time that Paisley and Underwood have taken swings at political heads. Last year, Paisley referred to his co-host as ‘Crooked Carrie’ while Underwood introduced to the audience the nominees for the Entertainer of the Year award (Pictured, Paisley and Underwood sing at the 2016 CMA Awards)
Brad Paisley blasted the CMA after it sent a memo to the press on November 3 threatening to boot journalists who didn’t comply with a request to avoid political questions
However, it seemed politics was the forefront of everyone’s mind before the music superstars even set foot on stage.
A memo that was sent to the press on November 3 ahead of the awards show threatened to boot journalists who didn’t comply with a request to avoid political questions.
Fist reported by Nashville Scene, the guidelines stated: ‘In light of recent events, and out of respect for the artists directly or indirectly involved, please refrain from focusing your coverage of the CMA Awards Red Carpet and Backstage Media Center on the Las Vegas tragedy, gun rights, political affiliations or topics of the like.’
Brad Paisley blasted the association and called on it to rescind the ‘ridiculous’ guidelines.
‘I’m sure the CMA will do the right thing and rescind these ridiculous and unfair press guidelines. In 3…2….1…..’ he tweeted on Thursday.