Jason Aldean is tipping his cowboy hat to Donald Trump. The country singer dedicated a performance of his controversial hit “Try That in a Small Town” to the former president during a recent concert following an assassination attempt on Trump at a Saturday rally. Aldean kicked off his Highway Desperado Tour on Thursday and last performed in Holmdel, New Jersey, on Saturday, according to his official website.
“President Trump’s a friend of mine so I want to send this next song out to him,” Aldean said, according to footage of the performance shared on social media. “We all know what’s going to happen come November, so it’s all good. Just goes to show you there’s a lot of (expletive) in the world, and that’s kind of what this song right here was about, so this one goes out to the pres.”
Released in May 2023, “Try That in a Small Town” peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 but ignited a cultural firestorm with its lyrics and accompanying music video. The video was quickly pulled from CMT because it showed graphic clips from recent protests. Despite fervent criticism, Aldean defended the “Small Town” video, even after some claimed the visual was a “dog whistle” and others labeled it “pro-lynching.”
“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 a July 2023 X post.
In an Instagram post Sunday, Aldean praised Trump after he was injured in a rally shooting in Pennsylvania over the weekend. The Grammy-nominated singer shared a photo of Trump raising his fist in the air onstage after the attack took place. “This is what a warrior looks like! This is MY guy,” Aldean wrote. “@realdonaldtrump we are thinking about (you) and praying for you and your family. God has a bigger plan for you my friend, and I think we all know what that is by now.”
Trump, who is running for president, is expected to receive the Republican party’s presidential nomination during the Republican National Convention this week. “My heart goes out to the victims’ families as well,” Aldean concluded. “They are the ones left to pick up the pieces of this cowardly act.”
Trump was rushed off the stage by Secret Service during a Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after loud popping sounds rang out. The former president later revealed on social media that he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” He was treated at a local hospital and subsequently released.
“I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. “Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.”
A day after the shooting, Trump traveled to Milwaukee on Sunday for the RNC. He said on Truth Social that he initially planned to delay the Wisconsin trip for two days because of the attack. “(I) just decided that I cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else,” Trump wrote.
The gunman who injured Trump, identified by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by Secret Service agents at the scene on Saturday.
Conservative country star Jason Aldean paid tribute to Donald Trump after Trump’s attempted assassination Saturday by dedicating a performance of his controversial song “Try That in a Small Town” to the former president. The song hit No. 1 last year even as critics decried the song and its music video for allegedly promoting gun violence, with the video particularly criticized for showing Aldean and his band performing in front of a courthouse where a Black teenager was lynched.
“President Trump’s a friend of mine, so I want to send this next song out to him,” Aldean said after referring to the gunman’s attack on a Trump rally that left one attendee dead, two others injured, and the former president himself bleeding from a wound to his ear. “We all know what’s going to happen come November, so it’s all good,” Aldean continued to cheers and applause. “Just goes to show you there’s a lot of bullshit in the world, and that’s kind of what this song right here was about. So this one goes out to the prez.”
A day after Trump was shot at a rally in Butler, PA, Aldean took the stage in Nashville, where he commented in support of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. “President Trump’s a friend of mine so I want to send this next song out to him. We all know what’s going to happen come November, so it’s all good,” Aldean told the crowd according to videos of the concert captured by fans.
“Just goes to show you there’s a lot of bullshit in the world, and that’s kind of what this song right here was about, so this one goes out to the prez,” he continued before launching into the track.
The song — written by Kelley Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Tully Kennedy and Kurt Allison — served as the lead single for Aldean’s 2023 album, Highway Desperado. The song has been criticized for promoting gun violence and taking aim at the Black Lives Matter movement.
The music video for it was also shot in front of the Maury Country Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, where 18-year-old Black man Henry Choate was lynched in 1927 after he was accused of attacking a white woman. Aldean said he didn’t pick that “building specifically for that reason” but admitted he didn’t research the location ahead of time.
Aldean has defended “Try That In A Small Town,” particularly since the video was released last July, with the clip shortly pulled from CMT. At the time, he wrote on Twitter, now known as X, “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.”
He continued, “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.
Trump was among the biggest supporters of Aldean’s incendiary track. “Jason Aldean is a fantastic guy who just came out with a great new song. Support Jason all the way. MAGA!!!,” Trump wrote on social media platform Truth Social.
After surviving being shot on Saturday, Trump took to Truth Social to share an update on his injury. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place.”
On Sunday, the FBI identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania as the shooter involved in the assassination attempt. The agency confirmed the investigation is still active and ongoing.
Authorities also reported that one attendee was killed, and two spectators were critically injured; all were identified as men. The Secret Service confirmed that it killed the suspected shooter, who attacked from an elevated position.
Source: USA TODAY, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Independent
