Garth Brooks has been known to make a public political statement every now and then, but earlier this week the country icon stirred up controversy with a case of mistaken identity.
Here’s what happened: Brooks was in Detroit, Michigan, to perform at Ford Field — home of the NFL’s Detroit Lions — and decided to wear a specific Lions jersey for the show. It was meant to be a simple nod to his hometown crowd and a football legend, and something he’s done throughout his long career. But after posting a thank you to fans after the show, Brooks inadvertently unleashed a public relations nightmare.
Fans who were unfamiliar with Hall of Fame running back, Barry Sanders, assumed Brooks was endorsing the 2020 campaign of Democratic Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders — and needless to say, the storm of angry replies from conservative-leaning country fans came in fast and furious.
So far Brooks has decided to stay out of the fray, and probably will continue to do so since the story is now drawing some hilarious attention from all kinds of media outlets. But for his part, Sanders (the Barry one) is taking the whole thing in stride:
