Republican Gov. Kristi Noem voiced her support for country singer Jason Aldean after he received backlash for his recent song, “Try That in a Small Town.”
In a video posted to her Twitter account on Wednesday, Noem defended the singer and invited him to play in South Dakota in response to widespread criticism of Aldean and the patriotic song.
“I was thinking about something I posted on my social media on May 24th,” Noem said. “It was about a new song that had just been released that my friend Neil Thrasher helped write. … It was by Jason Aldean, and I was so impressed with the song because it talked about the value of small towns and how we have our priorities right.”
Noem referenced her earlier social media post about the song, in which she expressed the hope that its music video would be shot in South Dakota because she believed the values it talked about were exemplified in her state. She continued on to compare those “small town” values to the rest of the country.
“I am shocked by what I’m seeing in this country, with people attempting to cancel this song, and cancel Jason and his beliefs — him and Brittany are outspoken about their love for law and order and for their love of this country, and I’m just grateful for them,” Noem said.
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She called out the people attempting to cancel Aldean, saying that people who fight for “these important issues” often face “persecution” from the culture. Noem expressed her staunch support of the Aldeans and extended the invitation to come to an environment where they would be supported.
“I just want them to know that we support them, we love them, thank you for writing a song that America can get behind,” Noem said. “Keep singing, keep playing, and if you want to come to South Dakota, we’ll let you play anywhere, we’ll facilitate it. I know you’re coming in August, but if you want to come sing it on the governor’s residence front lawn, we’ll do it proudly.”
My thoughts on “Try that in a Small Town”…. @Jason_Aldean pic.twitter.com/umJ8qFvy2o
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) July 19, 2023
The song was originally released on music streaming platforms in late May, but has received a new wave of public attention since the music video was released on July 14. Country Music Television (CMT) recently removed “Try That in a Small Town” from its channel after critics claimed that the song promoted lynchings.
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