How 'Rich Men North Of Richmond' Shot To Fame: The Big-Name Conservatives Who Boosted Oliver Anthony's Song

Oliver Anthony composed his first tweet less than a week ago, on Aug. 10. The tweet, a clip of him performing an original song called “Rich Men North of Richmond,” has now been viewed more than 25 million times and has more than 140,000 likes.

In less than a week, Anthony’s follower count grew to more than 357,000, despite the fact that he follows only two people: Elon Musk and fellow country singer Jamey Johnson. But, many people on social media were skeptical of Anthony’s quick rise to fame, and rightfully so.

An anonymous Twitter user laid out some compelling evidence that Anthony’s song had been astroturfed by powerful players in the right-wing media space. Jason Howerton, the CEO of Reach Digital, allegedly produced the video of Anthony performing his song, and was one of the first accounts to help promote the tune. 

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Dan Bongino, a popular conservative commentator, responded, stating that Howerton flew from California to Virginia to help Anthony produce the clip. Then, Bongino says that Howerton asked Bongino to help promote the video by sharing it with Bongino’s 4.5 million followers. 

So, while we may all love the story of a no-name artist posting a clip of an original song and becoming famous overnight, it doesn’t appear to be what happened in reality. By putting some money behind the video production, as well as orchestrating a promotional push of the song from many big-name accounts, the people behind Anthony’s song were able to get exactly what they wanted: a viral song overnight. 

Matt Walsh, a conservative commentator with more than 2 million Twitter followers, tweeted the video out on Aug. 11, saying the main reason people are drawn to the song is its authenticity. John Rich, a country singer, tweeted that Anthony starts his concert by reading a bible verse, and asks his followers to pray for Anthony. Even Ben Shaprio got in on the action, making a YouTube video about the song. 

Reason For Conservative Support

You may wonder why big-name conservatives would care to put effort into making Anthony’s song go viral. In the song, Anthony seemingly denounces welfare policies, saying “If you’re 5’3” and 300 pounds, taxes ought not to pay for your fudge rounds.” In reality, SNAP (food stamps), leads to lower obesity and BMI in recipients, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The song seems to push a message that’s somewhat similar to Donald Trump’s style of populism. A lot of talk about rich people taking advantage of workers, while at the same time denouncing progressive policies that could potentially help working-class people. 

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