Viral “right-wing” country song ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ branded “offensive” and “fatphobic”

17 August, 2023

Oliver Anthony

A viral song by country singer Oliver Anthony has been criticised as a “right-wing anthem” and branded “offensive”.

The song, called ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’, is currently number one on the iTunes Country charts and has racked up 17million views on YouTube within eight days.

At first listen the song could be interpreted as a working class anthem, as he sings of “sellin’ my soul” for “bullshit pay“. He also lambasts politicians and the “rich men north of Richmond” who “just wanna have total control“.

The song raises societal problems like homelessness and the country’s mental health crisis, but also sees Anthony punch down on the “obese milkin’ welfare“, singing that that “if you’re 5-foot-3 and you’re 300 pounds / Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds.”

The country track has been praised on social media by right-wing media figures including Dan Bongino and Matt Walsh. Republication representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, meanwhile, described it as “the anthem of the forgotten Americans who truly support this nation and unfortunately the world”.

However others have criticised the song for being “fatphobic” and offensive.

One X (formerly Twitter) user wrote that the song is “so uniquely offensive to me as a Virginian, a guitarist, a songwriter, a lover/ interpreter of folk music, a worker and an anti-fascist that I’m kinda hung up on it.”

Another wrote that the song is not “some ode to the working class”, but rather a “reactionary tune that perpetuates fatphobia and the classic ‘welfare queen’ trope popularised by [former president] Reagan.

“It vaguely critiques the wealthy yet directly/inaccurately blames the poor for ‘milkin’’ the system.”

“Nothing says class consciousness like a song where the entire middle verse is about how the poor can’t eat because of obese welfare recipients,” shared Leftist YouTube channel The Serfs.

Elsewhere, The Guardian so it was “no surprise” that the right wing loves it, while The Independent asked if “Republican anthems have to be as terrible as Oliver Anthony’s viral hit ‘Rich Men North of Richmond?”

Anthony is a a former factory worker and farmer, and on Sunday (August 13), held his first public concert since the viral attention which appeared to draw large numbers in North Carolina.

In a recent tweet, the singer said he was “in a state of shock at the outpouring of love I’ve seen in the comments, messages and emails”.

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