Is Toby Keith Racist? 'Beer For My Horses' Is Not Pro-Lynching Anthem, Says Country Singer Headlining Pre-Inaugural Festivities

Country superstar Toby Keith, the biggest name in this week’s line-up for pre-inaugural festivities, describes himself as an unapologetic performer, playing concerts for both Republicans and Democrats and performing for the military.

Keith came under fire when he agreed to headline the “Make American Great Again! Welcome Celebration” at the Lincoln Memorial Thursday, joined by 3 Doors Down, Lee Greenwood, Jennifer Holliday, The Piano Guys and the Frontmen of Country.

“I don’t apologize for performing for our country or military,” Keith said in a statement to EW. “I performed at events for previous presidents [George W.] Bush and [Barack] Obama and over 200 shows in Iraq and Afghanistan for the USO.”

Keith has refused to say who he supported in the election but made his feelings about both leading candidates known, calling both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton “media whores.”

Though Keith has displayed an eclectic collection of political views — opposing the Iraq war, for example, and supporting Obama in some instances — his one foray into movie-making, “Beer for my Horses,” which takes its name from Keith’s 2003 collaboration with Willie Nelson, oddly echoed last year’s campaign.

The Atlantic took another look at the 2008 film, which earned a zero from Rotten Tomatoes. The movie takes shots at Mexicans, blacks, gays and women — all subjects that took center stage during the presidential campaign.

The movie’s initial song features the lyrics: "Grandpappy told my pappy: Back in my day, son, / A man had to answer for the wicked that he done / Take all the rope in Texas, find a tall oak tree / Round up all of them bad boys, hang / them high in the street / For all the people to see."

A Huffington Post column laid out the argument for considering the song a pro-lynching anthem, but Keith denies that, and supporters note there’s no reference to race and say the lyrics are taken out of context, saying it’s more likely it was a reference to the search for Osama bin Laden and other terrorists, given the historical context.

Keith said the song was about the Old West, horses, sheriffs and “getting the bad guys. It’s not a racist thing or about lynching.”