Country singer Jason Aldean released a new music video this week touting how small towns wouldn't put up with the kind of riots and lawlessness many cities across the country faced during the summer of 2020.
With lyrics warning violent criminals, as well as those who disrespect law enforcement and the American flag to "try that in a small town," Aldean sings, "Yeah, ya think you're tough? Well, try that in a small town, see how far ya make it down the road. Around here, we take care of our own, you cross that line, it won't take long for you to find out, I recommend you don't."
Footage from smash and grab robberies and cities burning during the 2020 riots are shown in the background of the new music video for "Try That in a Small Town." The song's tough stance on crime and pro-Second Amendment messaging upset some liberals, who voiced their complaints on Twitter.
JASON ALDEAN SUFFERS FROM HEAT STROKE IN HARTFORD, RUNS OFF STAGE MID-PERFORMANCE
Gun control activist Shannon Watts of Moms Demand Action took issue with the lyrics since Aldean was on stage during the Las Vegas massacre in 2017.
"@Jason_Aldean- who was on-stage during the mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert in 2017 that killed 60 people and wounded over 400 more - has recorded a song called ‘Try That In A Small Town’ about how he and his friends will shoot you if you try to take their guns," she wrote.
Police reform activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham accused the singer of not telling the truth about shootings in small towns.
"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*," Packnett Cunningham wrote, tagging Aldean. "Your listeners are dying," she criticized.
The activist claimed that besides being insensitive, the song was also racist.
"Just 1 look at the lyrics & you see that beyond this being so insensitive to the small town folks dying from gun violence, it is also just a racist dog whistle Invoking ‘urban’ crimes that we better not do in ‘his" (sundown) ‘town.’ This is for the ’what about Chicago??' crowd." she added.
Liberal podcast host Jim Stewartson fumed the country singer was "openly radicalizing his fans."
"This is one of the most dangerous, irresponsible videos from a mainstream artist I have ever seen," he wrote. "@Jason_Aldean is openly radicalizing his fans into white nationalist vigilante violence." The critic accused the singer of inciting violence and demanded the video be taken down.
Mississippi Free Press news editor Ashton Pittman also criticized Aldean for choosing a controversial location for filming the pro-law enforcement music video.
"Jason Aldean shot this at the site where a white lynch mob strung Henry Choate up at the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tenn., after dragging his body through the streets with a car in 1927. That's where Aldean chose to sing about murdering people who don't respect police," the journalist complained.
The country singer has received heat in the past for boldly sharing his political views.
In 2021, he received criticism from the left after his family was spotted wearing anti-Biden merchandise. Aldean told critics that he'd "never apologize" for his beliefs.
"I will never apologize for my beliefs or my love for my family and country," Aldean wrote on Instagram at the time. "This is the greatest country in the world and I want to keep it that way. #unapologetic."
