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Country superstar Luke Combs is pushing back on labels from both sides of the political aisle, saying rejecting racism shouldn’t automatically brand someone as “liberal.”
In a wide-ranging conversation touching on culture, politics and the evolution of country music, Combs addressed criticism he faced in recent years — particularly after speaking out during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement and apologizing for past use of Confederate flag imagery.
During the New York Times’ “Popcast,” Combs was asked if he regrets how he handled that criticism, particularly now that culture and country music specifically have shifted away from those kinds of call-outs.
Luke Combs performs onstage during Lollapalooza at Grant Park on July 31, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Joshua Applegate/WireImage/Getty Images)
He said that he doesn’t regret it, explaining, “It’s funny, there’s always something in my video, it’s like, ‘Well I can’t believe you’d like Luke Combs, he’s a liberal’ or whatever it is … One, I’ve never said what I am. That’s the thing that blows me away the most about it, is like, basically seven or whatever years ago, five, six years ago now, me saying that I was not a racist was then people saying, ‘Well then you must be a liberal’ … I’m not sure those things really [equate].”
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He continued to share his political perspective, saying, “I’ve been accused of a million things, man. Like I would consider myself heavily moderate in everything … that’s to the point where like I’m not liberal enough for liberals, and I’m not conservative enough for conservatives, right? And I kind of like it that way.”
“Also I kind of like people not really know what I have going on politically. Like, why do we all care what everybody else is? … I have friends that are liberal, I have tons of friends that are conservative. You know, I have friends all across the board.”
Luke Combs defends his Black Lives Matter comments, telling critics “how is it hard to say you’re not… a racist?” (Terry Wyatt/WireImage)
“There was a time when people were trying to actively cancel me for basically saying like, ‘Hey, man. Well, this guy’s, you know, he’s a liberal or whatever’ … I never said that.”
— Luke Combs
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Luke Combs rejects political labels after facing criticism for speaking out against racism. (Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)
The host asked, “You’re in an interesting industry. The reason I’m framing it this way is like, you’re in one of the only mainstream American industries where the norm is to not say ‘I’m not a racist’ … and especially now, like you could be canceled from the right.”
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“Oh, certainly you could be for sure. For sure. And I mean, listen, there was a time when people were trying to actively cancel me for basically saying like, ‘Hey, man. Well, this guy’s, you know, he’s a liberal or whatever’ … I never said that. Never said I was liberal … how is it hard to say you’re not like a racist? That’s all I’m saying.”
Luke Combs has three children with his wife, Nicole Hocking. (John Shearer)
Combs released his first EP, “The Way She Rides,” in 2014, which was years prior to the release of his debut album, “This One’s for You,” in 2017. Combs’ popular song “Hurricane” was featured on this album, as well as “When It Rains It Pours.”
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Many viral Combs moments have come from his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” After performing “Fast Car” at many of his shows, the singer released the cover in 2023. His cover of the ’80s song rose to the top of music charts.
Aside from his chart-topping music, Combs is married to Nicole Hocking. The two tied the knot in August 2020, in Florida, before welcoming their three sons, Tex Lawrence Combs, Beau Lee Combs and Chet Wiley Combs.
Fox News Digital’s Ashlyn Messier contributed to this report.
Stephanie Giang-Paunon is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to stephanie.giang@fox.com and on Twitter: @SGiangPaunon.
