The singer-songwriter behind the viral music hit “Rich Men North of Richmond” said in a video Friday that he found it aggravating when Fox News decided to use his song as a prop in the first GOP presidential debate.
Oliver Anthony, who released the hit on August 8, found near-instant success after the song about a struggling worker’s perspective on life was quickly shared far and wide across the internet. The song was quickly adopted by Republicans on the presidential campaign trail, ultimately leading to it being featured in the very first question at the GOP presidential debate on Wednesday. Candidates were asked why they thought the song had struck such a nerve.
“We also cannot succeed when the Congress spends trillions and trillions of dollars,” DeSantis, in part, said in his response. “Those rich men north of Richmond have put us in this situation.”
But in a video published to YouTube on Friday, Anthony said the song’s inclusion at the presidential debate was “aggravating,” because it was written about the very people on stage “and a lot more too.””I wrote that song about those people,” Anthony said. “So for them to have to sit there and listen to that, that cracks me up. But it was funny kind of seeing the response to it.”
He added that despite the right-wing’s embrace of the song, it “has nothing to do with Joe Biden” and is about something “a lot bigger.”
“I’ve got to be clear that my message, like with any of my songs, it references the inefficiencies of the government because of the politicians within it that are engulfed in bribes and extortion.”
Anthony said he’s been particularly frustrated to see the way the song’s been weaponized by people from across the political spectrum.”I see the right trying to characterize me as one of their own, and I see the left trying to discredit me, I guess in retaliation,” Anthony said.
“That shit’s got to stop.”
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