‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ singer slams its use at GOP debate: ‘I wrote that song about those people’

The artist behind a chart-topping track that has become a conservative anthem and was the focus of the Republican primary debate’s first question said the song was “written about the people on that stage.”

“It was funny seeing my song at the presidential debate ’cause it’s like, I wrote that song about those people, so for them to have to sit there and listen to it, that cracks me up,” singer Oliver Anthony said in a 10-minute video posted to YouTube on Friday.

“Rich Men North of Richmond,” which currently holds the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Top 100, speaks to the “overtime hours” and “bulls--t pay” experienced by working-class Americans, placing the blame on “these rich men north of Richmond.”

Fox News co-host Martha MacCallum kicked off Wednesday’s debate by placing the song at the center of the night’s discourse.

"Washington, D.C., is about 100 miles north of Richmond," MacCallum noted after playing a clip of Anthony’s song. "Why is this song striking such a nerve in this country right now?"

In response, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis immediately invoked GOP talking points — Bidenomics, Hunter Biden and congressional spending — as hallmarks of the song's appeal to conservatives.

“Our country is in decline,” DeSantis said. “This decline is not inevitable, it is a choice. We need to send Joe Biden back to his basement and reverse American decline. And it starts with understanding we must reverse Bidenomics so that middle class families have a chance to succeed again.”

But Anthony says the song has “nothing to do with Joe Biden.”

“That song has nothing to do with Joe Biden, you know, it’s a lot bigger than Joe Biden,” Anthony said. “That song is written about the people on that stage.”