Garth Brooks accidentally sets off fiery political debate with Barry Sanders football jersey

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ABC RadioGarth Brooks played a stadium tour stop in Detroit recently, and the country superstar had such a great time at the show that he shared a photograph of himself on social media wearing a jersey for Barry Sanders, the retired Detroit Lions NFL running back. 

“Detroit you carried me all night long, but you always have. I’m in love with you!” Garth wrote. 

Unfortunately, several of the fans commenting on his post mistook his jersey for a show of support for Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders — and their sentiments weren’t quite as sweet as Garth’s. 

“Good grief. Can’t you just do what you get paid to do???? Why why why does it have to involve politics!!! So sad,” wrote one commenter. “We don’t pay good money for anything other than to watch you perform. Thought you were different.”

Still, many of the people who saw Garth’s post seemed to know which Sanders we was talking about, including the football great himself, who responded by re-posted the picture on his own Instagram account. 

“Hey Garth Brooks, want to be my VP? Thanks for the shout out at your Detroit show!” Barry wrote. 

When asked about politics, Garth has a long history of emphasizing unity, but has never come out strongly in support of any one side. People magazine points out that he performed for President Barack Obama’s inauguration but not President Donald Trump’s, although the official reason was scheduling conflicts. 

“You’ve got to understand that when you get to heaven, nobody cares about ‘Republican’ or ‘Democrat’ in heaven at all. ‘Welcome to heaven. This is it,’” Garth said, per People. “If we’re going to get anywhere as a human race, this is the path we want to follow.”

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