How quickly the mob can turn on you: Oliver Anthony, the bluegrass balladeer whose song “Rich Men North of Richmond” became such a conservative anthem it was the opening act for the GOP presidential debate, is now facing the conservative backlash for being too “woke” during a Fox network interview.
Anthony has frequently described his political views as centrist. He appeared on the Republican propaganda network because the video of his song, which decries greedy, self-serving, rich leaders disconnected from their constituents, has somehow been coopted by Republicans who, lacking an iota of self-awareness, use it to point a finger at Democrats for corruption.
According to the Daily Beast, Anthony is drawing fire from far-right influencers for saying on Fox something that was too “woke” for their tastes: “I don’t see our country lasting more than another generation the way we are headed. We have to go back to the roots of what made this country great in the first place, which was our sense of community. We are the melting pot of the world. And that’s what makes us strong, our diversity. And we need to learn to harness that and appreciate it and not use it as a political tool to keep everyone separate from it.”