Jason Aldean dedicates a song to Trump after his gunshot wound

July 15, 2024

Jason Aldean showed solidarity with former President Donald Trump during a show in Nashville on Saturday night (July 13), just hours after Trump was injured in an alleged assassination attempt at a campaign rally.

As he performed his controversial 2023 hit “Try That in a Small Town,” Aldean told the audience that he was dedicating the performance to the former president.

“President Trump is a friend of mine, so I want to send him this next song,” he said to cheers and shouts of “USA! USA!” from the crowd.

Aldean also reiterated his belief that the shooting will not stop Trump’s current presidential bid.

“We all know what’s going to happen in November, so it’s all good,” he said. “It just goes to show that there’s a lot of bullshit in the world, and that’s what this song is about. So this one goes out to the president.”

Aldean and his wife Brittany have frequently spoken publicly about their support for Trump and their alignment with his conservative policies. They have also met the president in person in recent years, even attending a New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago and playing golf with Trump.

Related: Donald Trump injured in shooting: reactions from country stars

What we know about the shooting at Donald Trump’s campaign rally:

On Saturday (July 13), as Donald Trump was speaking at a campaign rally for his 2024 US presidential candidacy, shots were fired and Trump ducked under the podium.
He was photographed with a bloody ear, but his injuries appeared to be minor when he was taken away by U.S. intelligence.
The incident is being investigated as attempted murder.
In a statement he released shortly afterwards, Trump recalled hearing a “hissing sound” and feeling “the bullet go through his skin.”
The shooter was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Crooks was killed at the rally by members of the Secret Service. A motive was not immediately known.
According to a Secret Service press release, one bystander was killed and two others were seriously injured in the shooting.
The statement also states that the suspected shooter fired several shots from an elevated position outside the venue.

After his initial release of “Try That in a Small Town,” Aldean described the song as a reference to “the sense of community I had growing up, when we cared for our neighbors, regardless of different backgrounds or beliefs.”

However, the song was met with controversial reactions. Many listeners interpreted it as a racist dog whistle and a glorification of “sundown towns”, i.e. cities or districts that practice racial discrimination through discriminatory local laws or open intimidation and violence against minority groups.

Listeners were particularly critical of the music video, which was filmed in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee. In front of this courthouse, the body of an 18-year-old black man named Henry Choate was hung in 1927 after he was lynched and killed by a mob.

Aldean is one of a handful of country stars to mention the shooting onstage at Trump’s campaign rally. Cody Johnson spoke about the incident and led the crowd in a rendition of “God Bless America.” George Strait also seemed to reference the shooting at one of his shows when he introduced his song “The Weight of the Badge.”

Carena Liptak is an associate editor and staff writer at Taste of Country. She specializes in breaking country music news, interviews, and lists. She’s particularly partial to sad songs – check out her roundup of the 50 saddest country songs of all time!