Donald Trump’s political base has been regularly fortified by a demographic raised on this century’s country music. Moreover, country music has grown so big that pop stars are now gravitating to it in the same way country stars once gravitated to pop in the 2010s. Just listen to recent material by Beyoncé, Post Malone, Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Rey, and Sabrina Carpenter. Inadvertently, their cachet has helped normalize and mainstream the ethos of both country music and Trump.
Bro-country still lingers, too, its testosterone-fueled songs now sounding like manifestos for the stereotypical Trumpian male. Despite “backlash” subgenres like neo-traditional and boyfriend country emerging, the industry sees little reason to deviate too far from bro’s macho imagery, now marketed and manifested throughout the nation. The more politicized male acts have been given particular attention, coalescing into a sub-subgenre one might call “Trump country”.