Maren Morris showed up to support Vice President Kamala Harris at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
On Wednesday, Aug. 21, the singer-songwriter made an appearance at the DNC in Chicago, performing her 2020 song,”Better Than We Found It.”
The protest song was released in the wake of George Floyd’s murder to express Morris’ support for the Black Lives Matter movement, but on Wednesday it seemingly served to draw a contrast between the modern-day Democratic and Republican platforms.
“When lines of tomorrow are drawn / Can I live with the side that I chose to be on? / Will we sit on our hands, do nothing about it? / Or will we leave this world better than we found it?” she sang. “America, America, divided we fall / America, America, God save us all / From ourselves and the Hell that we’ve built for our kids / America, America, we’re better than this.”
Throughout her career, Morris, 34, has been an advocate for an inclusive country music genre.
“I didn’t start making music to become an activist,” she said in 2022. “I think it was a byproduct of just seeing the inequality in the genre I happened to come up in. Once you become aware of it, you can’t really shut your eyes again.”
Maren Morris in 2024.
Timothy Norris/Getty Images
Morris, who identifies as bisexual and is an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, called out country music star Jason Aldean’s wife, Brittany, for her transphobic comment in August 2022. (The Aldeans were special guests of Donald Trump’s at the Republican National Convention last month.)
“It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human?” Morris wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie.”
She also famously created shirts reading “Lunatic Country Music Person” after television personality Tucker Carlson called her that during a 2022 segment of his show. The proceeds from the shirts were donated to benefit trans rights groups.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19, 2024.
Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty
Morris endorsed Joe Biden during his 2020 campaign for president during the “I Will Vote” Democratic fundraiser.
“I voted early for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and for Democrats down the ticket here in Tennessee because we need leadership that is kind, compassionate and that cares,” the Grammy winner said in October 2020, per Billboard.
“Leadership that will unite us to overcome this pandemic, to put us back to work again, end systemic racism and work every day to ensure we leave this world to our kids in better shape than we found it.”
Ahead of her 2024 DNC performance, she told The Tennessean that she’s “honored” to make her convention debut.
“It’s a moment where we, as a country, can come together and hear rational plans for the future of women’s and LGBTQ rights,” she said of the event. “We can be inspired by people’s stories and navigate a safe path forward for our children.”
