Former President Donald Trump defended country singer Jason Aldean as being a “fantastic guy” who recently released a “great new song.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump defended Aldean in response to the backlash he received regarding his country song, “Try That in a Small Town.” Aldean’s new song is a response to the disorder, crime and rioting often found in Democratic cities and praises small towns which don’t tolerate that behavior.
The new song begins with Aldean singing about people carjacking old ladies, robbing liquor store owners, suckerpunching strangers, cussing out police officers, and stomping on the American flag and burning it. Aldean then says, “Try that in a small town.”
“Jason Aldean is a fantastic guy who just came out with a great new song,” Trump wrote in his post. “Support Jason all the way! MAGA!!!”
Trump comes out in support for Jason Aldean: pic.twitter.com/7tIhCSBqxJ
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) July 20, 2023
Among many of the issues people have with Aldean’s new song is the location of the Maury County Courthouse, which can be seen in several scenes of the music video.
The courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, is where an 18-year-old African-American man was lynched in 1927, according to Fox News.
TackleBox, the music production company behind the music video, defended the courthouse as being a “popular filming location outside of Nashville.” It has been featured in “Hannah Montana: The Movie” with Miley Cyrus and “A Nashville Country Christmas” featuring country musician Tanya Tucker, according to the outlet.
After being accused of his music video containing racist and pro-lynching messages, Aldean issued a statement, defending his beliefs and denying the accusations that his song was racist.
In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.…
— Jason Aldean (@Jason_Aldean) July 18, 2023
“There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage -and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far,” Aldean wrote in his post.
Aldean explained that the song represented the “feeling of a community” that he had as a kid, adding that his community took care of their neighbors, despite their differences.
Since receiving criticism, Aldean’s new song reached #1 on iTunes days after the song was pulled from CMT.