Fact Check: Kid Rock, Jason Aldean Cancel New York Tour Dates Over Trump

Donald Trump's reelection efforts were handed a major blow last week when a judge ruled that his "hush money" trial will begin on March 25 in New York, and the decision is purported to have had repercussions for showbusiness in the state.

Justice Juan Merchan ruled Thursday morning that the former president's trial will go ahead as scheduled in March, rejecting Trump's calls for delays and a dismissal.

The trial stems from Trump's alleged affair with former adult film actor Stormy Daniels, and efforts to quiet a financial exchange before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Trump in 2006, a year after he married Melania Trump. The allegations have led to much fallout for the onetime real-estate mogul.

Trump has been accused of arranging for his former attorney Michael Cohen to give Daniels $130,000 as hush money during his 2016 presidential campaign. The Republican denies any wrongdoing and has said the trial is part of a political witch hunt aimed at derailing his White House bid.

The case, in which Trump is facing 34 felony counts, is expected to last six weeks, according to Merchan. It means that, if found guilty, Trump could run as a felon in November—the first time in U.S. history that this would happen in a presidential election.

On Friday, Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the New York Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud case against Trump, ordered the former president to pay $355 million in penalties for scheming to inflate the value of his assets with the goal of getting more favorable terms from banks and insurers.

The judge, a Democrat, also banned Trump from serving as an officer or director of any New York company for three years, while his eldest sons Eric and Donald Jr. were banned for two years.

The fine imposed by Engoron is significant even for someone with deep pockets, especially as Trump was recently ordered to pay $83.3 million for defaming writer Jean E. Carroll in yet another case.

The former president, who has already been found liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in a New York department store in the mid-1990s, was found guilty of defaming her for his 2019 statements denying rape charges and accusing her of being a political operative.

Trump will not have to pay the fine immediately, as an appeal process will follow Engoron's decision, but he could eventually be forced to pay. The former president lashed out at the ruling, calling the judge as "crooked" and describing his decision as politically motivated. As in the other cases against him, Trump denies wrongdoing.

The Claim

Amid reactions to the judge's ruling, posts were circulated on social media claiming that musicians Kid Rock and Jason Aldean—both of whom are known to be avowed Trump supporters—have canceled shows in the state in protest.

On Monday, a post was shared on X, formerly Twitter, that showed a screenshot of a headline reading: "Kid Rock and Jason Aldean Remove New York from the 'You Can't Cancel America' Tour: 'We Support 45.'"

The screenshot, which was shared by @WUTangKids, was accompanied by the caption: "I'm sure the parking lot these two losers had lined up somewhere upstate NY will be devastated because no way in hell they were playing anywhere in NYC."

While the apparent news prompted a flood of derisive comments, conservative activist and author Brigitte Gabriel counted herself among the several social media users who spoke out in favor of the purported move.

"Kid Rock and Jason Aldean have responded to New York's extreme attack on President Trump by REMOVING the state from their 'You Can't Cancel America Tour,' Gabriel wrote on X early Tuesday. "This is a BIG DEAL and a sign of the silent majority rising again!"

The claim also became a talking point on Reddit, where thousands of subscribers shared their reactions and weighed in on the discussion.

Newsweek traced the headline shared on X back to website The Dunning-Kruger Times. In the article, it was claimed that a statement was shared on the tour's website that read: "We support 45, therefore, we won't be bringing the tour to the state that has treated him so poorly.

"The tour was set to play more than a dozen dates in New York, adding untold millions to local economies and giving patriotic Americans living in a liberal nightmare the chance to have a night to themselves," read part of the article.

Quotes attributed to a person identified as the president of the Kid Rock Fan Club read: "I have tickets for the West Platsville Pig Roast. Floor seats. We were gonna get the free commemorative popcorn bucket signed by Kid himself for an extra $12.99. We're pretty bummed."

The Facts

Aldean does not have a tour called You Can't Cancel America. The country musician has tour dates scheduled for April and May in small towns across the U.S. The seven-stop tour, called Rock the Country, will be a collaboration with Kid Rock, and will visit Louisiana, Florida, Missouri, Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Following the Rock the Country tour, Aldean will resume his Highway Desperado shows, which started last year. The musician will spend the summer and early fall on the tour, which currently includes four shows in the state of New York.

Furthermore, The Dunning-Kruger Times, where the article was published, states on its "about us" page online that the outlet is satirical.

"Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real," the page states. "If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site's pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical."

The Dunning-Kruger effect appears to have inspired the name of the website. This is a "cognitive bias," where people "with limited knowledge or competence in a given intellectual or social domain greatly overestimate their own knowledge or competence in that domain relative to objective criteria or to the performance of their peers or of people in general," the Encyclopedia Britannica states.

In internet parlance, the term is often used to refer to the overconfidence of individuals despite their low IQ levels.

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Aldean and Kid Rock via email for comment.

The Ruling

False. There is no evidence that Aldean and Kid Rock had ever collaborated on, or announced plans for, a tour called You Can't Cancel America. Aldean's Highway Desperado tour will see the country star play a series of dates in New York, contradicting claims that he has in any way boycotted the state in protest of the Trump ruling.

The claims have originated from a website that openly states its articles are satirical. The fictitious tour was also mentioned in an article by another website, which claimed that the shows had surpassed Taylor Swift's record-breaking, $1 billion Eras Tour in terms of sales. In a fact check of its own, Reuters ruled that the article was also published on a satirical website.

FACT CHECK BY NEWSWEEK