Photo of Trump Playing Controversial Jason Aldean Song at Rally Goes Viral

A photo of Jason Aldean's controversial "Try That in a Small Town" music video being played at former President Donald Trump's most recent rally has gone viral on Twitter.

Amid accusations that the track and its accompanying video promote racism and gun violence, Trump has publicly expressed his support for Aldean's "great new song" on social media. Apparently reiterating his support, the track was played at the 2024 presidential hopeful's rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

Country music star Aldean, 46, caused a stir when he released the music video for his track in July. The song compares city life and small-town lifestyles. It includes the lyrics that if somebody "cross[es] that line," to "cuss out a cop, spit in his face" or "stomp on the flag and light it up," to "try that in a small town."

Musician Aldean also sings: "Got a gun that my granddad gave me. They say one day they're gonna round up/ Well, that s*** might fly in the city, good luck."

Aldean has also faced criticism for his music video. The clip was filmed outside of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, where a white mob killed Henry Choate, a Black man, in 1927. The video also shows riots and protests in different parts of the country.

Parts of the video appear to have since been altered, with the removal of footage from news coverage of a Black Lives Matter protest, among other imagery.

Criticism over the purported promotion of gun violence in the song has been particularly pointed since Aldean was performing in 2017 at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, where nearly 60 people were killed and hundreds more were injured in the nation's worst ever mass shooting.

As public debate continues about Aldean's track and video, a photo of the star's clip playing at Trump's rally was shared by Liz Willis. Per Willis' LinkedIn page, up until July she served as vice president of operations of the Right Side Broadcasting Network, a conservative media company known for livestreaming Trump rallies.

"PRESIDENT TRUMP IS PLAYING JASON ALDEAN'S 'TRY THAT IN A SMALL TOWN' AT HIS RALLY RIGHT NOW," Willis captioned the image, which as of press time has been viewed more than 340,000 times.

The photo was met with a number of positive responses from Trump supporters, one of whom said it was "extraordinary," while another called it "awesome." There were also many detractors, with one branding the track "the MAGA cult National Anthem." Another called supporters of the song "ignorant."

Meanwhile, another Twitter user shared a 24-second video clip of Aldean's track playing at the rally, which was held at the Erie Insurance Arena.

While it was recently announced that the track hit number one on the U.S. iTunes chart, Country Music TV (CMT) pulled its music video from the channel.

Trump, whom Aldean has publicly supported, weighed in with his thoughts on the track in a post on his Truth Social platform on July 20.

"Jason Aldean is a fantastic guy who just came out with a great new song," the real estate mogul wrote. "Support Jason all the way. MAGA!!!"

Aldean—who has won the support of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, among others—has called the accusations of racism "not only meritless, but dangerous" in a tweet, while adding that 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."

During a July 21 show in Cincinnati, Ohio, as a part of his current Highway Desperado tour, Aldean decried "cancel culture" as he reflected on his "long week" of controversy.

"It's been a long week, and I've seen a lot of stuff," he told the crowd, per Entertainment Weekly. "I've seen a lot of stuff suggesting I'm this, suggesting I'm that. Here's the thing, here's one thing I feel: I feel like everybody's entitled to their opinion. You can think something all you want to, it doesn't mean it's true, right?"

"What I am is a proud American," he went on. "I'm proud to be from here. I love our country, I want to see it restored to what it once was before all this bulls*** started happening to us. I love our country, I love my family, and I will do anything to protect that. I can tell you that right now."