National Anthem Singer Meghan Linsey Addresses Her Decision to Take a Knee

After her performance of the national anthem at the Tennessee Titans’ game against the Seattle Seahawks in Nashville on Sunday, Meghan Linsey took a knee, as did her her guitarist, Tyler Cain, in a move that has now become especially politically charged in the wake of comments made by Donald Trump over the weekend.

“I was absolutely terrified walking out there,” Linsey told Yahoo! of her decision. “I knew what I was getting ready to do, and I understood what it meant. Obviously, I made a name for myself in country music, and I knew what the backlash would be. So I walked out there scared. But I have to go into my gut and my heart, and I knew that was the right thing to do today.”

During Linsey’s performance, both the Titans and the Seahawks players remained in their locker rooms, a move Linsey found out about just before she took the field.

“That made it a little more scarier, I guess, that nobody was out there doing it with me,” the former Voice contestant revealed. “And I hadn’t planned for this. But it was obviously just meant to be that I was there in this moment, and given this opportunity.”

Linsey explained that she had made the decision to take a knee the morning of her performance.

“Until yesterday, I didn’t even think about it that much,” she said on Sunday. “Then I was thinking about the things that [the president] said yesterday, and I thought, ‘Man, it really does need to be addressed, and I think I’m in a position to take a stand and hopefully make a difference.’ I have a lot of African-American friends, and they can’t stand alone,” she said.

“I love America. I’m not unpatriotic. I appreciate our men and women in uniform. That’s not the issue. I think the issue is the things that are happening around us with racism, and Trump will come out and openly condemn NFL players for peacefully protesting, but then these white national terrorists bring their tiki torches and cause this violence, and then he has nothing to say. It was important to me to stand with [African-Americans],” Linsey added.

“I couldn’t have gone out there and not done anything and felt good about it, because I have always built this platform on empowerment and loving people — whatever color, whatever sexual orientation. And it was like: Of all the days that I would sing the anthem! It put me in a weird spot. You’re making a choice when you walk out there, however you handle it. If you don’t take a knee, it’s like: what do you stand for? For me, anything else wasn’t an option,” Linsey continued.

Sunday’s protests were in response to comments made by Donald Trump at a rally Friday night in Alabama, with Trump saying, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say: ‘Get that son of a b— off the field right now, out.’”

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