Garth Brooks waded into the hot topic of transgender activism and selling Bud Light in his new bar in Nashville. He is finding out the hard way that conservatives don’t take kindly to being called names. Seems like he should have known better, but maybe not.

Some fans were upset when Brooks said he would sell all labels of beer in his Friends in Low Places bar because he is all about inclusivity. Brooks made the mistake of going off with crude language against those who may disagree with his decision.

“I want it to be a place you feel safe in, I want it to be a place where you feel like there are manners and people like one another. And yes, we’re going to serve every brand of beer. We just are. It’s not our decision to make. Our thing is this: If you [are let] into this house, love one another. If you’re an a–hole, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway,” Brooks said when explaining his bar’s beer policy.

Brooks considered it a show of support for everyone. That might have worked without much of a kerfuffle for him if he hadn’t called those who disagree with him as assholes. Where’s the tolerance, Garth? His way of addressing critics was to act as any other progressive does – name call and try to shame the opposition. It is perfectly reasonable that Bud Light drinkers were angered over the company’s cluelessness as to whom their customer is and how best to attract new consumers. Offering up a collaboration with a transgender Instagram influencer who is living in the world of performance art by mocking teen girls’ behavior while claiming to transition to female was a bridge too far for some Bud Light drinkers. Bud Light is very popular with blue collar workers and working class people. It’s popular with frat boys. It’s popular at the ball park. It’s an All-American kind of beer.

There isn’t anything wrong with voicing support for everyone. This is America and we enjoy freedoms not allowed in many countries. Would Dylan Mulvaney be a social media star in Islamic countries? No. He would be tossed in jail for insulting Islam. On an issue as button-pushing as transgenderism, Brooks should have known that country music fans would not just fall in line and not push back when he called critics names. Did he not see the reporting in the press about the billions of dollars Bud Light was losing from the boycott? Billions, with a B, Garth.

So, Garth Brooks kinda doubled down and kinda acknowledged his mistake. On Monday he addressed the situation during a livestream.

“Diversity, inclusiveness: that’s me! That’s always been me,” he said on his livestream “Inside Studio G.”

“I get it, everybody’s got their opinions. But inclusiveness is always going to be me. I think diversity is the answer to the problems that are here and the answer to the problems that are coming. So I love diversity. All-inclusive, so all are welcome. I understand that might not be other people’s opinions, but that’s OK, man. They have their opinions, they have their beliefs. I have mine,” he added.

“I’m a bar owner now,” Brooks shared. “Are we going to have the most popular beers in the thing? Yes. It’s not our call if we don’t or not. It’s the patrons call – the bosses, right? Bring ‘em in there, if they don’t want it, then I got to go to the distributor saying, ‘Man, your stuff’s not selling.’ And then the action gets taken, right? But the truth is, it’s those people in those seats that make those decisions. And that’s what Friends in Low Places is gonna be.”

Then Garth circled back and did his pitch for inclusiveness once again.

“So, here’s the deal, man, if you want to come to Friends in Low Places, come in. Come in with love, come in with tolerance, patience. Come in with an open mind, and it’s cool,” he said. “And if you’re one of those people that just can’t do that, I get it. If you ever are one of those people that want to try, come.”

So, instead of just saying he’s sorry for calling people who might disagree with his decision to sell Bud Light a name, he decided to get back up on his soapbox and once again insult people – politely this time – by saying if someone can’t even enter a bar that sells Bud Light, then that’s someone who will have to just go elsewhere. As far as I know, people aren’t boycotting bars for selling Bud Light. Customers are boycotting buying the beer. The boycott is hurting distributors because the beer isn’t selling and it is hurting sales at stores that sell the beer, but I am not aware of entire bars shuttering because no one will walk in if Bud Light is available there. It’s the product, not the establishment that is feeling the hit. I think Garth Brooks jumped the shark.

All he had to do was say he was sorry for his behavior, not his beliefs.