Country song about working class struggles goes viral: 'An American anthem'
'Outnumbered' panelists discuss the impact of Oliver Anthony's viral country ballad 'Rich Men North of Richmond.'
Oliver Anthony’s viral song "Rich Men North of Richmond" was labeled a right-wing anthem by some liberal media outlets, but "Outnumbered" panelists pushed back and argued the song puts into words a sentiment felt across the nation.
Anthony’s widely popular country ballad shares the plight of working-class Americans who struggle to make enough money while politicians, as Anthony sings, "all just wanna have total control."
Though the song has largely resonated with Republicans, "Outnumbered" co-host Harris Faulkner suggested Monday that the song has a more universal message.
Oliver Anthony (YouTube screenshot/RadioWV) (RadioWV/Fox News Digital)
"Why can’t it be an ‘American anthem’?" Faulkner asked panelists Monday. "Why does it even have to be political? Americans are going through this."
She explained her belief that leftist politicians lack the desire to understand Americans’ true struggles outside their lives in Washington, D.C.
"I feel the anguish of not being heard and seen with every word [Anthony] sings, with every word he's written and speaks. And it's the same with Jason Aldean," she said. "And they're going to try to cancel everybody who speaks from that gut place that the left just has no curiosity to find out where it's coming from."
The Seattle Times reported that the song was a "right-wing anthem," while Rolling Stone declared that "right-wing influencers" were "losing their minds" over the song, which has more than 9.5 million views on YouTube in five days. NBC News' report on the song called it a "conservative anthem."
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Griff Jenkins, a Fox News national correspondent, said the song could alternatively be called "The Ballad of Bidenomics" as it lays out the frustrations Americans feel working long hours and still being unable to afford bills under President Biden’s economic agenda.
"This is a guy who pours his heart out about the reality," Jenkins said. "All prices are up 16%, wages are down 3%. The paycheck for the average working American isn’t meeting."
"It's a shame that other politicians and others that criticize it, calling it right-wing, don't understand what's happening there. It's a political song that's apolitical at the same time."
Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe argued the song also highlights the imbalance of power within the country.
"We've seen the middle class just get absolutely crushed in this country, particularly since COVID, but there's also the government control aspect of it as well," Boothe explained.
"The power is concentrated in the hands of the few, and people like [Anthony] are getting screwed in this country, and no one's looking out for them."
Boothe went on to say that media outlets are attacking Anthony’s song because they operate in "power bubbles" – areas like Washington, D.C., New York City and Los Angeles – where it’s easier to overlook the problems facing everyday Americans.
"And they don't understand or even try to attempt to understand people like Oliver," she said. "So we just have this massive disconnect with Americans and this total imbalance of power. And I think that song speaks to that even more than just the economic issues."
Former President Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a presidential debate in 2016. (REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo)
"Outnumbered" co-host Kayleigh McEnany said the political mood of the country reminds her of 2016 when Donald Trump unexpectedly defeated Hillary Clinton.
"I'll never forget the faces on CNN on the set that night in 2016. I was there on the set on election night watching them melt down because they couldn't see it coming. But you could see it coming if you just went and listened to the American people," she said.
"I feel we are at a moment like this again, where Biden goes to Philly to tout Bidenomics, but Fox News Digital goes out to talk to people and what do they hear from people in that area? Everything is so high, food is so expensive. I'm trying to make ends meet. I'm making so little money but I'm paying more for everything. … That's what the people are saying."
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