The Voice judge Adam Levine has learned a valuable lesson this week–if you want to remain in good standing with your fans, don’t make any negative comments about the U.S.A., even if such comments are made in the heat of the moment.  This is a lesson that former Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines learned a few years ago, but clearly a refresher course was needed.

The Maroon 5 frontman came under fire after saying “I hate this country” when two of his contestants (Judith Hill and Sarah Simmons) were voted off the show on Tuesday night.  Almost immediately after Levine muttered the comment people ran to Twitter to trash Levine and question his patriotism.

One Twitter user said, “Adam Levine just said “I hate this country” on TV… Not a smart move dude, not smart at all. #america” and other fans defended the comment, suggesting he meant that he hated country music since his contestant that was kept on (Amber Carrington) is a country singer. This notion is supported by the fact that half of the Top 6 are country singers.

If the backlash bothers Levine, he isn’t letting it show too much.  Rather than tell everyone he was sorry for the comment initially, posts he made on Twitter implied that it wasn’t meant seriously. Levine posted the definitions of “joke,” “humorless,” “light hearted” and “misunderstand.”

When that didn’t work and he continued to receive a lot of hateful comments, including one post that suggested Levine should be deported, he released the following statement:  “I obviously love my country very much and my comments last night were made purely out of frustration.  Last night’s elimination of Judith and Sarah was confusing and downright emotional for me and my comments were made based on my personal dissatisfaction with the results.”

Levine wasn’t the only person shocked with the eliminations.  Prior to this week Hill was considered the most popular contestant on the show.  She made the Top 8 and many thought she was a sure bet to end up in the finals.  After that didn’t happen, fans of the singer complained on Twitter and said she was “robbed” and other backed Levine’s comments.  One Twitter user said she would be mad as well and understood his angst when he made the statement.

The Voice is currently in its fourth season.  Levine and country star Blake Shelton have been part of the judging panel since the show began and Shakira and Usher were added to the panel this season.  Shelton’s teams on “The Voice” have won two out of three seasons and so far it looks like his team could win again in Season 4.