When country music artist and conservative commentator Alexis Wilkins refused to remove the American flag from her Instagram bio, she told Fox News Digital it became a moment that inspired her to embrace and speak out about her conservative values.
Wilkins said she wasn’t politically outspoken before college, but a classroom experience changed that.
"I was given an F in a class that I have only ever gotten A's in my life because of my politics," Wilkins shared.
Wilkins believed that receiving the failing grade was the professor’s way of signaling she wasn’t following a push to be indoctrinated.
JASMINE CROCKETT DISPARAGES MAGA VOTERS, TRUMP AS 'MOST UNPATRIOTIC PEOPLE'
Country music artist Alexis Wilkins attends the Los Angeles premiere of "Reagan" at TCL Chinese Theatre on Aug. 20, 2024, in Hollywood, Calif. (Getty Images/Amy Sussman)
"When he gave that to me just simply for not going along with the status quo, not writing the papers that denigrated the actions of the Trump administration that I was being asked to write as part of curricula, that was the point where I said, 'okay, it looks like me not saying that I'm a liberal means that I am a conservative' anyway, so I'm willing to draw a line in the sand and I think it's time in this country that we did," said Wilkins.
Although Wilkins said country music is generally more accepting of people who "love America," she added that parts of the industry still pressured her to do things she didn’t agree with.
"I was told to take an American flag out of my Instagram bio, or that I had to support certain things or do certain things in order to get booked on tours, in order to get signed to a label. There are things that ultimately have to give up, and I wasn't willing to do that and bend the knee to that."
She added, "The industry and some figureheads in the industry were just saying that me having an American flag in my bio was going to be seen as partisan."
BROADCAST BIAS: MEDIA ELITES PUT THEIR PROFESSION OVER PATRIOTISM
Alexis Wilkins performs at "Spreading Hope With Keith Griner" at 3rd & Lindsley on June 21, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (Getty Images/Jason Kempin)
FORMER ‘REAL HOUSEWIFE’ SAYS BRAVO CANCELED HER FOR BEING CONSERVATIVE
Wilkins pushed back, calling it "ridiculous" to suggest that being proud of the country you live in should be considered "partisan."
During the 2016 election, Wilkins said some in the industry warned her that even working with certain veterans organizations could be viewed as "partisan."
Wilkins didn't let that stop her.
"It was things that were fundamentally American and things that I wasn't willing to compromise on," she said.