Fox News under fire for defending Jason Aldean’s use of lynching site in music video

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Fox News has come under fire for its defence of Jason Aldean shooting his controversial “Try That in a Small Town” music video in front of an infamous mob lynching site.

The widely-criticised video was shot in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, which was the site of the 1927 mob lynching of Black teenager Henry Choate.

It has now been pulled off Country Music Television after it was branded racist and a “dog whistle.”

The video also features clips of violent news footage, while an American flag is draped between the pillars of the historic courthouse.

In it, Aldean sings about what he views as big-city behaviour not being accepted in small-town America, using the lines “car jack an old lady”, “Stomp on the flag”, and “cuss out a cop.”

Now Fox News defended Aldean by pointing out that the location has been “seen in many films & shows” before.

The right-wing channel even flashed up a still from “A Nashville Country Christmas” featuring fake snow and Christmas trees to prove their point.

“Bigotry loves company,” one Twitter user wrote in response to the Fox News segment.

And another added: “The way Fox messaging is absolutely insensitive to the experiences and violence directed towards marginalized communities ... is on brand.”

Aldean, a pro-Trump Republican who grew up in Macon, Georgia, which has a population of 160,000, has denied the allegations.

“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 – and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music – this one goes too far,” he tweeted on Tuesday.

Tacklebox, the production company behind the video, said on Wednesday that it had filmed at a ”popular filming location outside of Nashville”, also used by holiday films featuring Tanya Tucker, and another with Mario Lopez and Jana Krama.

“Any alternative narrative suggesting the music video’s location decision is false,” the company said.