"Outnumbered" panelists harshly criticized liberals for their immediate outrage over Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Friday appearance at a Luke Bryan concert to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Ian, which devastated Southwest Florida.
Co-host Kayleigh McEnany dismissed the "noisy extremists online" who said they’ll no longer listen to Bryan’s music and claimed he "tanked" his career.
"The cheering crowd suggests otherwise," McEnany said Monday. "He gained followers after this."
Some progressives called for Bryan to be "canceled" over the weekend. Bryan, however, stood by his decision to host the Republican governor and noted that he knew it would stir up political drama.
"I understand Governor DeSantis is a very polarizing figure, but I grew up in a country where if a governor asked you if they can come and raise awareness to help victims of a natural disaster, you help," Bryan wrote in a statement.
While McEnany supported the decision to bring DeSantis on stage, she raised issue with the need for Bryan to release a statement at all.
"I love DeSantis. I love Luke Bryan. But I will say I do not love this need to explain ourselves to the left always," she said. "He said he typically doesn't respond to this. I think that probably would have been the best approach."
Doug Collins, a former U.S. representative, called the left’s response a "false outrage."
"You got to be mad about something," he said. "And for the left, again, if it has anything to do remotely with a conservative: it’s terrible."
"Luke doesn’t deserve this," he added.
Collins noted that if Bryan had brought a liberal governor on stage, the reaction would have been completely different and likely increased his fan base.
McEnany echoed Collins’ point.
"If this were Newsom, there would be no explanation needed partly because the right doesn't exert their voice in this really complaining, petulant, whiny type of way," she said.
