They have some similarities, Bruce Springsteen and Donald Trump — guys in their 70s with homes in New Jersey and big constituencies among white American men middle-aged and older. And both, in very different respects, are the boss.
That’s about where it ends.
The veteran rock star, long a political opponent of the president, stood up as one of Trump’s most prominent cultural critics last week with a verbal takedown from a British stage.
As is his nature, Trump is fighting back — hard. He calls Springsteen a “dried out prune of a rocker” and is even bringing Beyoncé into the fray.
On Monday, the president suggested Springsteen and Beyoncé should be investigated to see if appearances they made on behalf of his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, last fall represented an illegal campaign donation.
Opening a tour in Manchester, England, Springsteen told his audience last Thursday that “the America I love, the America I’ve written about that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.”
He added, “Tonight we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring.”
And the back and forth began
Springsteen later made reference to an “unfit president and a rogue government” who have “no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American.”
The next morning, Trump called Springsteen highly overrated. “Never liked him, never liked his music or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — just a pushy, obnoxious JERK,” he wrote on social media.
“This dried out prune of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back in the Country,” he said.
The next night, also in Manchester, Springsteen repeated his criticisms.
“It’s no surprise what Springsteen’s political leanings are and have been for many decades,” said veteran music writer Alan Light, author of the upcoming “Don’t Stop: Why We (Still) Love Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours.” “He’s somebody who has been outspoken in his music and his actions.”
The Boss’ statements this week showed he wasn’t afraid to speak out “at a time when so many people and institutions are just kind of rolling over,” Light said.
On Tuesday, Canadian-American rocker Neil Young weighed in on his website on behalf of Springsteen under the headline “TRUMP!!!”
“What are you worryin about man?” he said. “Bruce and thousands of musicians think you are ruining America. You worry about that instead of the dyin’ kids in Gaza. That’s your problem. I am not scared of you. Neither are the rest of us.”
He added: “Taylor Swift is right. So is Bruce. You know how I feel. You are worried more about yourself than AMERICA.”
Springsteen isn’t new to this game
It’s not the first time Springsteen has spoken out against Trump — or a Republican president.
When former President Ronald Reagan referenced Springsteen’s “message of hope” at a campaign stop during the height of the rocker’s “Born in the USA” popularity, Springsteen wondered if Reagan had listened to his music and its references to those left behind in the 1980s economy. He also has had an occasionally bumpy relationship with onetime Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a fan of his music.
Springsteen has campaigned for Trump’s opponents, including Harris last fall. In 2020, he said that “a good portion of our fine country, to my eye, has been thoroughly hypnotized, brainwashed by a con man from Queens.”
He knows the outer-borough reference still stung a man who built his own tower in Manhattan and ascended to the presidency. Trump often stays at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Springsteen grew up in New Jersey — you may have heard — and lives in Colts Neck, New Jersey, now.
Trump doesn’t hesitate to go after the biggest musical names that speak out against him, like Beyoncé and Swift. But the political risk may be less; their younger, more female audiences are less likely to intersect with Trump’s core constituency.
During his career, Springsteen has challenged his audience politically beyond presidential endorsements. The 1995 album “The Ghost of Tom Joad” bluntly documented the lives of struggling immigrants — Mexican and Vietnamese among them. And his 2001 song “American Skin (41 Shots),” criticized the shooting by New York City police officers of an unarmed Guinean immigrant named Amadou Diallo, angering some of the blue-collar segments of his fan base.
Clearly, Springsteen has conservative fans and some who wish he’d steer clear of politics, Light said. Still, “40 years later, it’s hard to imagine what they think would happen” with Trump, he said.
While Trump made a point to reference Springsteen’s criticism in an overseas show, he and the E Street Band haven’t performed in the United States since before the 2024 election. His tour last year hit heavily on themes of mortality, less of politics. He has several European tour dates scheduled this year into July and hasn’t announced any new American shows.
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David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social
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