Charley Crockett on Trump renaming the Gulf: 'I don't recognize it by any other name'

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas alternative country artist Charley Crockett has never been one to swim with the tide. The self-proclaimed drifter reminded his fans of that once again on social media this week.

Crockett, a native Texan from San Benito who’s famous for his signature Americana music, took to social media this week, reminding folks of his roots and sharing his thoughts on the name change from “The Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America.”

“I was born on the Gulf Of Mexico. I don’t recognize it by any other name,” the post stated. “Any real Texan knows that our Mexican American brothers and sisters hold up our economy in every industry. I’m proud to have been born in the Rio Grande Valley where the population is over 90 percent Latino.”

Crockett, of course, was referencing President Trump’s executive order to change the Gulf of Mexico’s name to the “Gulf of America.” That order prompted countless conversations and debates over whether Trump should or even could rename the body of water.

Crockett’s post concluded, “If those boys in Washington D.C. wanna go renaming regions of this country, they can start with New England. Because it ain’t new and it ain’t England.”

This is far from the first time the singer has weighed in on contentious topics online.

In August, Crockett wrote a lengthy caption in a social media post about the backlash fellow Texas artist Beyoncé received earlier this year for dipping into the country music genre with her album “Cowboy Carter” and winning prestigious country music awards for it.

“Hey country folks. @beyonce ain’t the source of your discontent. It was 25 years of bro country,” Crockett said at the beginning of the post. Later in the caption, he wrote, “I don’t need to put down a black woman to advance my music. That’s just embarrassing to the idea of America and I got no respect for it.”

This past spring, Crockett joined a conversation with up-and-coming country artist Noeline Hofmann at Rolling Stone’s first multi-city tour of its “Musicians on Musicians” series. During the discussion, he talked about his upbringing in Texas, his world travels, and how a common theme in his lyrics is change and being able to roll with it.

“You know, you can’t be neutral on a moving train. Things are always changing,” Crockett said.