John Rich Defends Carrie Underwood For Liking Anti-Mask Video on Twitter: 'She's a Tough Okie Gal'

Country singer John Rich came to Carrie Underwood's defense after she became the subject of controversy over liking an anti-mask video on Twitter.

Underwood came under fire on Twitter on Tuesday after she threw a "like" at a post from conservative commentator Matt Walsh, who shared a video from a recent Metro Nashville Public Schools board meeting showing him giving a speech slamming mask mandates for children. Walsh claimed Covid posed no threat to children, said masks were equivalent to "child abuse" and compared putting maks on children to "muzzles" on "rabid dogs."

While Underwood didn't comment on the post or retweet it, her "Like" still helped get the video on the timelines of her 8.2 million fans -- many of whom were surprised to see her presumed support. As screengrabs of her "Likes" tab started to go viral on Twitter, many started weaponizing her own songs against her. (To see some of the viral Twitter reactions, click here.)

Meanwhile, amid the online backlash, Rich took to Twitter to rally behind Underwood, writing, "I say @carrieunderwood can like whatever tweet she wants to like. Who are 'they' to shout her down? Watch out, she's a tough Okie gal:)"

"You see what's going on here?" he added. "It's 'freedom of speech unless you disagree with the mob.' #CarrieTakeTheWheel."

Underwood has yet to un-like the post. TooFab has reached out to Underwood's rep for additional comment.

The following day, actor Billy Eichner shared that he discovered Underwood had blocked him on Twitter. Alongside a screenshot noting that he was blocked by Underwood, the "Billy on the Street" star tweeted, "ICONIC."

In another tweet, Eichner added, "And for the record, I didn't even tweet about her anti-mask views yesterday. She had ALREADY blocked me! I'm now taking a little Twitter break because honestly this is one of the proudest moments of my career and it will be hard to top. Love you all."