Musician Ted Nugent weighed in on country singer Jason Aldean's new song that critics claim to be racially charged and a potential incitement of violence.
During a Sunday Fox News segment, host Jimmy Failla noted Nugent was also targeted by critics over his outspoken nature supporting the Second Amendment and hunting. Nugent said there were "idiots" in the world that people needed to learn to "get a kick" out of.
"The idiots hate this Jason Aldean song because they hate when we push back against violence," Nugent said. "They always get it 180 degrees wrong."
"The song is against violence. The song is about self-defense. The song is about protecting your loved ones and your neighborhood."
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"If you find fault with a song that celebrates protecting your loved ones and your neighborhood, you might be going down to Target to the Satan display and getting on your knees," he continued, referencing Target's Pride month merchandise controversy. "These are just weird people. We dismiss them out of hand because they've got no soul. I laugh in their face."
Failla asked Nugent if he attributed his success to his consistency and dismissal of critics.
"I've always stood up radically," Nugent said, jokingly referring to himself as an "extremist" who supported God, family, country, the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Ten Commandments, the "Golden Rule," hard work ethic, along with law and order: "All that really radical stuff, and that represents the heart and soul of the best, most passionate, most cocky, most fun people in the world, and that's always what I've been surrounded by."
Nugent detailed his history of being outspoken prior to modern "cancel culture."
"Ted Nugent was always on the front line standing up for truth, logic, and common sense," the rock star continued, referring to his audience as the most "positive, uppity, outrageous, defiant, [and] independent patriots" in the world. "I am out of body on stage every night, and so is the audience."
Nugent noted he had responded to social media posts surrounding the Aldean song.
"Go Jason, go," the rock star said. "We salute you and we stand with you."
Aldean's song was originally released on May 19, though the country artist released an accompanying music video last Friday.
The song, "Try That In A Small Town," discusses civil unrest and features themes and references to small-town America. The music video similarly features footage from riots along with other security footage of civil unrest.
Critics pointed towards Aldean’s lyrics detailing a “gun that my granddad gave me” suggesting the song’s title was an open threat while also referencing Aldean’s presence during the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. Aldean was performing on stage during the Route 91 Harvest festival as Stephen Paddock reportedly opened fire on the crowd from the 32nd floor of his hotel room at Mandalay Bay. Other critics noted the filming location of "Try That In A Small Town" at Maury County Courthouse in which an 18-year-old black man was publicly hanged after allegedly assaulting a 16-year-old girl nearly a century ago.
Country Music Television (CMT) confirmed the music video had been pulled from its network as of Monday, per Variety.
