The right-wing’s latest culture war is ‘defending Jason Aldean’s lynching song’

It was as predictable as the sun rising in the east – as soon as there was a backlash against Jason Aldean’s pro-lynching song “Try That in a Small Town,” there was a backlash against the backlash. CMT did the right thing by pulling the music video – which was staged at the site of an infamous lynching – this week after the video had only been airing for a few days. Other musical artists and gun-control advocates have been slamming Aldean for the song and the video. So of course the GOP and their wingnuts are tripping over themselves to declare Aldean as their favorite son of the south.

Conservatives are vigorously defending country singer Jason Aldean after the video for his controversial song, “Try That in a Small Town,” was pulled from CMT rotation following accusations that the tune promotes gun violence and sundown towns.

While Aldean has fired back at his critics, claiming allegations that he released a “pro-lynching song” are “not only meritless, but dangerous,” the video itself was filmed at Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee—the site of the 1927 mob lynching of Henry Choate, an 18-year-old Black man who was dragged through the streets before he was hanged from the building’s window.

With the tune’s in-your-face message prompting Democratic lawmakers to condemn it as a “heinous song calling for racist violence,” and the video no longer in CMT’s rotation, it was just a matter of time before the right-wing outrage machine rallied around behind Aldean and the song itself.

Longshot GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who has made anti-wokeness a key component of his campaign, tweeted out the video on Wednesday while complaining about the “cancellation” of Aldean’s song. According to Ramaswamy, the same critics blasting “Try That in a Small Town” are the ones who glorified an inflammatory Ice-T track that conservatives wanted to ban in the early 1990s.

“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,” he wrote on Twitter. “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.”

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem posted a video on Wednesday declaring herself “so impressed” with Aldean’s single, adding that her “good friend” helped write it. Continuing with the pandering, Noem said she had initially “hoped the video would be shot in South Dakota,” but now she’ll let the “persecuted” Aldean “play anywhere” in her state and “facilitate” any concert appearances by the artist, including at the governor’s mansion.

[From The Daily Beast]

It keeps going and going – right-wing pundits and conservative columnists are now chiming in how wokeness has come for Jason Aldean, that Aldean has been “canceled” by the left-wing mob. Literally the only thing that’s happened is that CMT said “we don’t want to air this trash on our network.” That’s it. The music video is still on YouTube, country music radio is still playing the song and I’m sure people are still streaming it. Nevermind the fact that Aldean’s album is still available for purchase – it hasn’t been banned anywhere either. No one is blocking his concerts or tours either. This is the new dumbf–k culture war, guys. Forget Bud Light, forget Hunter Biden – the new battleground is “the government should force CMT to air Jason Aldean’s lynching song!”

.@Jason_Aldean I’m from a small town. Even people in small towns are sick of violence.There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence. You should know that better than anyone having survived a mass shooting.

This is not American or small town-like. It’s just lame https://t.co/cuOtUO9xjr

— Sheryl Crow (@SherylCrow) July 19, 2023

Uvalde? Small town.

VA Tech? Small college town.

Newtown? Small New England town.

Parkland? Small town that had just been voted Florida’s *safest* town.

Most mass shootings occur in *small towns* @Jason_Aldean. Your listeners are dying. https://t.co/NlUN8uBzZ2

— yung auntie (she/her). (@MsPackyetti) July 17, 2023

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.