Cody Johnson paused his Nashville show recently to praise military veterans, first responders and emergency personnel.

“Four years ago the word was division — I guess it was five years ago now,” he said to the crowd at Bridgestone Arena after he asked for a round of applause for those who have served. “All there was was division,” he continues. “There was divisions about masks. There was divisions about vaccines. There was divisions about race. There was divisions about religion.

“There was divisions about politics because if you voted for this person or that person that means that we gotta hate each other,” he said.

“Well I got news for ya. Every bit of that was just a bunch of lies. I do not believe in division. I don’t believe in hate. Three things that we can all agree on, that we can all believe in are just like this; red, white and blue,” Johnson added.

Johnson is currently on his “Leather Deluxe Tour” in support of his album. He then talked about United States service members.

“Do you know why it’s OK to disagree?” he asked. “They try to tell us it’s because you believe different than I do, or I believe different than you do, or you believe different than her or him that we should hate each other. You know why it’s okay that we disagree?

“Because before most of us were born there was an American soldier that sacrificed their lives for us to have the right to disagree and still be united as one country under God.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.