Oliver Anthony performs in Moyock, North Carolina, on Saturday.

Virginian Pilot/TNS / Tribune News Service/Getty Images

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Virginian Pilot/TNS / Tribune News Service/Getty Images

Oliver Anthony performs in Moyock, North Carolina, on Saturday.

Virginian Pilot/TNS / Tribune News Service/Getty Images

The first Republican main debate opened up with a nod to a breakout nation track, “Rich Men North of Richmond,” that has achieved the weird feat of topping the Billboard 100 chart virtually in a single day.

The track, which is being hailed by some as a form of “hillbilly elegy” for the working class, comes from a beforehand unknown singer who goes by the title Oliver Anthony.

It rails towards the hardship of taxation, but additionally towards folks on welfare — and it additionally nods to a conspiracy concept that has grow to be a mainstay of the far proper.

In one lyric, Anthony says, “I wish politicians would look out for miners / And not just minors on an island somewhere.”

The point out of “minors on an island” is known to discuss with the Jeffrey Epstein scandal; although Epstein died in jail in 2019, the circumstances round his loss of life continue to feed conspiratorial thinking.

“[That] really opened up a lot of people to conspiratorial content that they might have not otherwise interacted with,” stated Jared Holt, senior researcher on the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Holt stated anxieties round COVID-19 and false narratives round a stolen election have been typically combined in with content material that was skeptical about Epstein’s loss of life, bringing folks additional alongside the breadcrumb path of conspiratorial considering.

In one other taped interview on his public YouTube web page, Anthony additionally speaks about his concern over human trafficking and says “one of the worst things a human can do is take advantage of a child.”

Together, these notes hit on themes which might be foundational to the QAnon conspiracy concept.

That conspiracy concept revolves round a baseless declare that elites (these whom Anthony may name the “Rich Men North of Richmond”) are secretly trafficking kids for intercourse and to reap their blood.

It is carefully tied in with the anti-Semitic blood libel and has helped lay the groundwork for an ethical panic round kids being focused by pedophiles, which at this time has propelled violent extremists to focus on LGBTQ people and their allies.

Of specific be aware is the best way wherein this track went viral. “It sort of spread as an anthem,” stated Holt. “How I encountered it was through political channels rather than music-focused channels. It’s not like Pitchfork wrote up the song.”

Holt stated that it is typical for political actions to latch onto cultural artifacts like music or films to broaden their attain. But on this case, Holt warned that the people seizing on the track might lead unsuspecting audiences into their extremist spheres.

Among the early on-line boosters of the track have been Matt Walsh, a far-right commentator who has fanned anti-LGBTQ sentiment. Walsh posted the track to his X account, to 1 million views. Jack Posobiec, a rightwing activist who promoted the false Pizzagate conspiracy concept and has documented ties with white nationalists, shared it on his X account to greater than 5 million views.

“What is concerning is how this song is being used and the type of figures who are attaching themselves to the song, especially on the back of its success,” stated Holt. “And if these far-right figures are successful in associating themselves directly with the song, it could potentially open up a wider audience that they might normally not have access to all the time.”

This reporting initially appeared in our stay weblog. Revisit how the debate unfolded.