Harris, Whitmer celebrate Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’

Vice President Harris and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) hailed Beyoncé’s new album “Cowboy Carter” in social media posts Friday.

“Beyoncé: Thank you for reminding us to never feel confined to other people’s perspective of what our lane is,” Harris said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “You have redefined a genre and reclaimed country music’s Black roots. Your music continues to inspire us all.”

Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter,” released Friday, has been described in an Instagram post by the superstar herself as “born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t.”

“But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive,” Beyoncé continued in her post from earlier this month. “It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.”

In her own post on X, Whitmer asked if Michigan was “tuned into KNTRY radio,” a reference to a fictional radio station featured in interludes on the album. Whitmer’s post also featured a video set to Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em,” with her propping her feet up on a desk, revealing that she is wearing cowboy boots.

Other politicians, including Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) and Texas Reps. Colin Allred (D) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D) celebrated the “Cowboy Carter” release online as well, with Evers stating that his staff had “briefed” him on the album in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Jackson Lee called the album “spectacular,” writing on X that she is listening from her home in Houston.