Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley played country star Jason Aldean’s latest single, “Try That in a Small Town,” for the crowd at one of her campaign’s town hall events on Thursday.
“You all know I love music,” Haley tweeted along with a video of the event. “Tonight in Greenville we added a new song to the playlist: Jason Aldean’s ‘Try That in a Small Town.’”
The 20-second video clip showed the packed room listening to Aldean’s song while waiting for Haley to take the stage at the Greenville, South Carolina, town hall event.
Haley becomes the latest Republican politician to support Aldean amid controversy from his single, joining the likes of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and former President Donald Trump.
Aldean’s video aggressively attacks rioting and rising lawlessness seen in the United States.
As Breitbart News detailed:
The video has since received 346,000 views on YouTube and features Aldean performing in front of a courthouse amid interspersed footage of “a flag burning, protesters screaming and attacking police in various scenarios, and robbing a convenience store,” according to Billboard.
Later in the video, a Fox News chyron appears with the words “state of emergency declared in Georgia.” Aldean’s video juxtaposes these violent images with more harmonious scenes like a girl playing hopscotch and a raised American flag. Critics of the song took issue with several lyrics wherein Aldean calls out criminals and rioters directly.
However, critics accused the song and video of being racist and glorifying gun violence. CMT ultimately pulled the music video from its playlists.
As Breitbart News reported:
The Daily Beast responded to the “Try That In A Small Town” music video with a headline titled, “Jason Aldean Catches Heat for Racist, Pro-Gun Lyrics: ’a Modern Lynching Song.’”
Newsweek reacted to Aldean’s video by running a piece titled, “Jason Aldean’s New Song Sparks Outrage Over Guns—’ Very Scary Lyrics.’”
Late Tuesday, Variety reported that after airing Jason Aldean’s music video for “Try That in a Small Town,” the CMT network pulled the three-minute clip from the air on Monday.
Aldean denied accusations of the song being racist, saying the song reminds him of “the feeling of a community” that he had growing up.
“NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart. … ‘Try That In A Small Town,’ for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief,” Aldean said.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.