Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Meghan Linsey takes a knee after singing the national anthem Sunday in Tennessee.

But that’s precisely what happened after President Donald Trump criticized NFL players who kneel during the anthem and suggested they should be fired by their teams’ owners for disrespecting the country.

As it turned out, the Seahawks and Titans decided to remain in the locker room during Meghan’s performance of the anthem at Nissan Stadium in Tennessee.

Meghan performed the anthem, then took at knee at the end.

The former member of Steel Magnolia and runner-up on Season 8 of The Voice said she knew she’d face backlash because of her decision.

She hasn’t been disappointed. Just do a search for her name on Twitter to see some of the reaction.

But Meghan told Yahoo.com she didn’t feel she had a choice considering the timing of her performance. Sunday’s slate of NFL games was marked by protests from players offended by the president’s comments.

“I couldn’t have gone out there and not done anything and felt good about it, because I have always built this platform on empowerment and loving people — whatever color, whatever sexual orientation,” she told Yahoo. “And it was like: Of all the days that I would sing the anthem. It put me in a weird spot. You’re making a choice when you walk out there, however you handle it. If you don’t take a knee, it’s like: what do you stand for? For me, anything else wasn’t an option.”

She also posted this explanation on Twitter.

Nevertheless, lots of fans are calling for a boycott of Meghan’s music.

We won’t have long to wait to see how that goes.

Meghan has a new album — “Bold As a Lion” — coming out Nov. 3. Pre-orders begin Oct. 6; the first two songs from the album will also be released that day.