Jason Aldean has dedicated the controversial song "Try That In A Small Town" to Donald Trump following the shooting at his rally in Pennsylvania. The former president was grazed in the incident.
Performing on the same day as the shooting, Aldean took the opportunity to express sympathy for Trump. He told his audience, "What happened in Pittsburgh today with our former president, Mr. Trump, you guys know about this, right?"
He continued, "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. Just goes to show you there's a lot of bulls--t in the world, and that's kind of what this song right here was about, so this one goes out to the Pres."
@susanelizabethphoto Jason Aldean dedicated ?try that in a small town? to Trump #jasonaldean #trump #trump2024
Previously, Aldean garnered controversy for the song with some seeing it as pro-violence and lynching with racist undertones. Aldean has strongly denied this. The artist continues to stand by the tune.
Jason Aldean Defends Tune
"If you've got common sense, you can look at the video. And see, I'm not sayin' anything that's not true," Aldean said in the Coop's Rockin' Country Saturday Night podcast about the video. "In the video, I'm showin' you what happened — I didn't do it, I didn't create it — it just happened, and I saw it, and I'm not cool with it."
He continued, "The biggest issue, I think, people had when we released the song was that it mentioned 'having a gun that my grandfather gave me.' I mentioned a gun, that's a 'no, no' right now. I just remember thinking, 'Man, you guys haven't even seen the video yet.'"
Meanwhile, Aldean has denied that any part of his song points to race or racism.
He said, "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. As so many pointed out, I was present at Route 91 — where so many lost their lives — and our community recently suffered another heartbreaking tragedy. NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart."
