Donald Trump Jr. has defended country star Jason Aldean’s song “Try That In A Small Town,” insisting it wasn’t racist and calling the lyrics “healthy.”
Grammy-nominated Aldean, 46, released the song in May and the video on July 14.
Footage taken outside the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, shows Aldean singing, with images of BLM rallies in the background.
“Swear at a cop, spit in his face, step on the flag and set it on fire, yeah you think you’re tough,” he sings.
“Try that in a small town and see how far you can get down the road: Here we take care of ourselves.”
Critics said the song glorified vigilante violence and accused Aldean of racism. Aldean called the allegations “baseless” and “dangerous”.
Trump Jr., 45, said Aldean had his full support and condemned Country Music Television for removing the video from its broadcasts.
Donald Trump Jr. appeared on Megyn Kelly’s podcast on Friday and defended Jason Aldean
In the music video, Aldean sings in front of the Maury County Courthouse and an American flag, punctuated by clips of BLM protests
“I think it’s crazy,” Trump Jr. told Megyn Kelly on her podcast. “That’s what we see again and again: simply surrender to the radical left.”
“I mean, this song is 100% true — that it’s against the BLM/Antifa riots.” It’s 100% true that if you experimented in a small town, that would happen. “I wish the rest of America worked like this.”
Trump Jr. said he texted Georgia-born, Florida-based Aldean to show his support.
“Jason is a friend of mine,” he said. “I DMed him and compared his texts to Cardi B’s WAP.
“It’s shocking that even country music television can seem to literally turn its entire audience away from Hollywood — and we’ve just seen too much of that.”
Jason Aldean performs at CMA Fest 2022 on June 9, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee
Aldean’s video shows a flag being burned during BLM protests
The location for Aldean’s video was considered provocative: Aldean’s team said they knew nothing of the background
And he insisted the lyrics weren’t about racism, but rather defending the small-town way of life. “I think his lyrics are sane,” Trump Jr. said.
“This has nothing to do with lynching.” It has nothing to do with racism, but that’s the problem. In the truest sense of the word everything, everything has become racism.
“It’s the simple button of today’s radical left.” Trump Jr.’s statement of support followed a lead by his father, who defended the musician on Thursday.
Donald Trump called Aldean “an amazing guy who just released an amazing new song” in a Truth Social post.
Aldean is shown with former President Donald Trump: he and his wife Brittany are outspoken Trump supporters
Aldean took to Twitter to celebrate the July 14 release of his new song
The country music star used footage of Black Lives Matter riots for the divisive song
Ron DeSantis, Trump’s rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, also showed his support, tweeting, “If the media attacks you, you’re doing something right.”
Marsha Blackburn, Republican Senator for Tennessee — where Aldean lived for many years — said the singer was the victim of “abandon culture.”
And South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said the singer and his wife, former American Idol contestant Brittany Aldean, have been “open about their love of law and order and their love for this country.”
Aldean himself insisted the song was about “small-town values,” saying he wasn’t aware of the historical significance of the courthouse that served as the backdrop for the video.
He said the song “relates to the sense of community I had as a kid.”
He tweeted Tuesday, “For the last 24 hours I’ve been accused of releasing a Lynch pro song … and have been compared to say I’m (direct quote) not too happy with the national distribution.” [Black Lives Matter] protests.
“These references are not only unfounded, but dangerous.” “There isn’t a single lyric in the song that refers to or hints at race — and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t actual news material — and while I can try to respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music, this one goes too far.”
Aldean, who was playing at the Las Vegas music festival in October 2017 when a gunman opened fire and killed 60 people, said he never intended to divide the nation.
“My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know many of us in this country disagree on how we can return to a sense of normalcy, where we can go at least a day without a headline to keep us up at night,” he wrote.
“But the desire for it – that’s what this song is about.”