As the end of his Leather tour wraps up, Cody Johnson kicked off its final leg in style in Arlington, Texas over the weekend. Performing a plethora of hits that included “Me and My Kind,” “‘Til You Can’t” and “Dirt Cheap,” the Texas native brought his A-game to his first-ever stadium show in Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers.
It’s well-documented at this point that Johnson loves to speak his mind and give firey, passionate speeches during his concerts. Whether it’s his patriotic mid-concert monologues or his iconic speech on the night of President Donald Trump’s assassination attempt back in July, the “Leather” singer has always let his crowds know exactly what he’s thinking.
On Saturday, Johnson delivered another passionate speech about the country, its freedom and last week’s record-breaking election. Beginning with a shoutout to all first responders and military members, he urged the crowd to celebrate their right for everyone’s freedom:
“I got a few things I’d like to say, a few things I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t say. You have the freedom in this country, of all countries in the world, you have the freedom to pick more things than most people. At this point, you can pick your gender. You can pick your job. You can pick your religion. You can pick your color. You can pick everything you want...
…That type of freedom that none of us agree on… That type of freedom comes with a cost. That type of freedom comes with disagreement. That type of freedom is only bought by the blood of men and women from the United States of America that have sacrificed themselves for us to have the freedom to disagree in the first place.”
Johnson then referenced the election, which saw President Donald Trump win in historic numbers, before noting how lucky he is to live in a country that has free elections, “I’m not going to ask you, even prompt you, about how you feel about what just happened in this country because it’s none of my business how you feel. The fact that we live in a country where men and women all across this great nation can go to the polls, have their voice heard and whether or not they got their president or whether they didn’t, [they] can still stand up and say this is still the greatest country in the entire world. That means that no matter how different, God still has his hands on three things: red, white and blue.”
Before wrapping up the speech and singing “God Bless America,” Johnson finished by noting the stark difference between the 2020 and 2024 elections, “The difference between 2024 and 2020, for me, was a lack of division. There wasn’t as much division this time around… We’re going to do something out of unity this evening.”
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