watched the crowd during “Rich Men North of Richmond” and then, finally, left the stage to shake hands on his way out during one last song.

That’s a pretty good song, and if anything is just a plea for progressive policy…

But conservatives just heard “north of Richmond” and latched onto it as a pro-confederacy song.

On August 25, Anthony released a video statement on YouTube. On the Republican presidential debate, he said: “It was funny seeing my song at the presidential debate, because I wrote that song about those people, you know. … That song is written about the people on that stage—and a lot more, too. Not just them, but definitely them.”[34] He clarified that he does not support President Joe Biden, either.[35]

Anthony said that his song has been “weaponized” by the right and the left: “I see the right trying to characterise me as one of their own. And I see the left trying to discredit me, I guess in retaliation.”[36] He said the people he wrote about in the song have “done everything they can in the last two weeks to make me look like a fool, to spin my words, to try to stick me in a political bucket.” He also addressed those who interpreted the song as “an attack against the poor”, saying that “all of my songs that reference class defend the poor”. He said of “Rich Men”: “30-some million people understood what I was saying, but it only takes a few to try to derail the train, to try to send out false narratives.”[34]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Men_North_of_Richmond

Edit:

For those who haven’t heard it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOZ5T6bKbNo