Republicans Defend Jason Aldean Amid 'Racist' Song Controversy

Republicans are coming to the defense of country music singer Jason Aldean following pushback for his new song that critics claim promotes gun violence and for its music video that was filmed at the site of a lynching.

The song, "Try That in a Small Town," drew little negative reaction when it was first released in May, but that changed with the July 14 release of the song's music video, which resulted in a debate about the song's lyrics and imagery.

In a Twitter post announcing the video, Aldean wrote: "When u grow up in a small town, it's that unspoken rule of 'we all have each other's backs and we look out for each other.' It feels like somewhere along the way, that sense of community and respect has gotten lost. Deep down we are all ready to get back to that. I hope my new music video helps y'all know that u are not alone in feeling that way."

Country Music Television (CMT) pulled the video from its rotation after accusations that the music video was "racist," causing backlash from conservatives who defended Aldean as being a victim of—as Republican 2024 presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said—"cancel culture." However, the song catapulted to number one on the U.S. iTunes chart as well as to the top of YouTube's trending music videos category.

Representative Mike Waltz, a Florida Republican, came to the singer's defense on Twitter on Sunday re-tweeting a video of Aldean addressing the controversy. "I stand with @Jason_Aldean and the majority of Americans who say enough is enough with cancel culture. Every American has a right to free speech," the congressman tweeted.

Republican 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy also tweeted on Wednesday saying, "Jason Aldean writes a song defending the values that ALL Americans used to share - faith, family, hard work, patriotism - only to be immediately sacrificed at the altar of censorship & cancellation. These are the same people who cheer songs like "Cop Killer" & the glorification of sex and violence in hip-hop. Stand strong against these hypocrites and opportunist frauds, @Jason_Aldean. It'd be a real shame if the song hits #1. We'll do our part & play it at our rallies."

Conservative political commentator CJ Pearson tweeted on Saturday, "Rappers talk all the time about what'll happen if you come in their hood, what's wrong with Jason Aldean and country music doing the same?"

Conservative political commentator Chad Prather also tweeted on Saturday saying, "Jason Aldean CRUSHED his speech right before he performed tried that in a small town. CAN'T CANCEL THE TRUTH!"

Political commentator and former communications director for the conservative group Turning Point USA, Candace Owens also came to Aldean's defense tweeting on Wednesday, "Columbia Tennessee is a wonderful small town that I spend time in.
The building is iconic. They have filmed many movies in that square, including the Hannah Montana movie where Hannah walks outside of that courthouse. Jason and his wife are wonderful people."

Aldean's wife Brittany addressed the growing social media pushback against her husband's song posting to Instagram on Tuesday saying, "Never apologize for speaking the truth."

Meanwhile, the country music star also spoke about the controversy surrounding the song at his concert on Friday night saying, "I love our country, I want to see it restored to what it once was before all this bulls**t started happening to us." The crowd then erupted in "USA" chants. Aldean went on to say, "cancel culture is a thing," but thanked country music fans for rallying behind him.

The music video of "Try That in a Small Town" contains images of violence, including vandalization and altercations with police officers, as well as footage of what appears to be protests against racial injustice. Much of the racism accusations stem from Aldean appearing in the video with the Maury County Courthouse as his backdrop. The building in Columbia, Tennessee, was the location of race riots in 1946 and the 1927 lynching of an 18-year-old Black man named Henry Choate by a white mob.

Tennessee state Representative Justin Jones, a Democrat, told CNN that he feels the video's setting was "no accident," and accused the song of normalizing "racist, violence, vigilantism and white nationalism" while "glorifying a South we're trying to move forward from here in Tennessee."

Political analyst and Dillard University professor Robert Collins told Newsweek on Sunday that "weighing in on controversial entertainers like Jason Aldean is unwise for politicians."

"It distracts them from talking about their core message and campaign platform, while potentially angering additional voters who were offended by the song," Collins said. "There's no political upside to it. Candidates in search of votes need to stay focused on real life public policy issues and leave opinions about music or entertainers to the general public."