Most of us, beyond the age of 40, have friends who have attended several Bruce Springsteen concerts. My wife has attended 15. I have a friend who claims to have attended 20. There is something about “The Boss” that has made him the most popular and revered rock star of our times.
Last Friday, I was perusing Truth Social and learned that the President of the Free World, the Chairman of the Kennedy Center, disagrees. More about that in a bit. First, what did Springsteen say to earn the President’s wrath?
Last week, Bruce gave a concert in London, the first on his European tour. Introducing his song, Land of Hopes and Dreams, Bruce commented, “In my home, 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.”
Later in the concert, Springsteen commented: “The last check on power after the checks and balances of government have failed are the people, you, and me. It’s in the union of people around a common set of values now that’s all that stands between democracy and authoritarianism. So, at the end of the day, all we’ve got is each other.”
Bruce also, in introducing his song, My City of Ruins, told the audience: “In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now… in America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. This is happening now.”
If you are not familiar with Bruce Springsteen, you are missing a lot. He deserves a statue in Trump’s planned “Garden of American Heroes.” I imagine The Boss’ Born in the USA playing at 90 decibels at the opening of the Garden. I can see Springsteen shaking the hand of a future President and maybe even singing a song in the Garden.
Our President doesn’t share my appreciation for The Boss, maybe because the President believes there can be only one boss in America. Maybe it is because Springsteen has captured the soul of America so well in his catalog of songs. And maybe because Springsteen is far, far more popular than Trump. (So is Taylor Swift.)
Apparently, Karoline Leavitt, the uber-loyal White House press secretary, read about Springsteen’s comments and reported them to Trump. Or maybe the woman known in the White House as the Human Printer, Natalie Harp, printed out an article reporting Bruce’s comments and gave him a copy. In any case, once Trump heard what was said about him, he exploded in a most un-presidential way.
Trump posted this attack on Springsteen on Truth Social:
“I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States. 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, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country. If I weren’t elected, it would have been GONE by now! Sleepy Joe didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing, but Springsteen is “dumb as a rock,” and couldn’t see what was going on, or could he (which is even worse!)? This dried out “prune” of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just “standard fare.” Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!”
Trump is outraged that someone would speak ill of the President of the United States. Didn’t Trump, his two older boys, and his closest aides do that for the entirety of the 2024 presidential election? Apparently, what is good for the Goose is not good for the Gander.
And apparently, Trump is no champion of the first amendment, at least as Bruce Springsteen practices it.
The President also does not envy Springsteen’s “atrophied” skin.
And, of course, Trump closes his social media post with a threat. Is Trump hinting that he might seek some form of retribution against Springsteen? (If you can threaten former FBI director Jim Comey for publishing a photo of seashells forming the number, “8647” because he believes the image may incite someone to attempt to assassinate him, anything is possible.)
Towards the end of his concert, Springsteen assured the audience that, “We’ll survive this moment.” He added, “Now, I have hope, because I believe in the truth of what the great American writer James Baldwin said. He said, ‘In this world, there isn’t as much humanity as one would like, but there’s enough.’ Let’s pray.”
Bruce, I’m praying for you and the United States. If given the choice of The Boss and Donald J. Trump being president, I vote for Bruce.
J.E. Dean writes on politics, government but, too frequently, on President Trump. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.
Willard Engelskirchen says
Free Speech for me but not thee?
Well Put.
John Dean says
Thank you for reading the piece. Much appreciated.
J T Smith says
Says it all! Thanks.
Robert Rietz says
Since when is Trump’s hypocrisy a surprise? And is Trump’s unbridled hatred of anyone who dares speak ill of him a new phenomenon? Can anyone remember a President as coarse as he is? LBJ was Miss Manners by comparison.
John Dean says
Thanks for the comment. You are right that we’ve never had a President as coarse as Trump.
Bob Parker says
When criticized, a big man would have srugged off the comment.
A big man would have laughed and congratulated Springsteen for speaking his mind and exercising his right to free speech.
A bigger man would have asked ” why did he say that” and then reflect on what he could do to make things better.
What do trump do? He did not do any of that. Instead he ranted like a child who was told he couldn’t have another cookie, and he made threats as do all bullies because that is the only way to make himself feel important.
At a time when we need a big man in the White House, we have someone who gets rattled when a rock star criticizes him. I wonder how trump will react when he faces a real crisis?
Deirdre LaMotte says
Trump is a 300 pound man locked in the emotional capability of a toddler. It is not Trump we need to worry about, he is mentally inept and golfs. That is all. The evil are the men behind him: Miller and
Russell Vought, who authored Project 2025. They and others are the 21st century equivalent of
the Bulsheviks in the early 20th century: to destroy.
Highlights include plans to kill off climate regulations; eviscerate pollution laws; terminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that protects Americans from Wall Street scams; raise taxes on the middle class to finance billionaire and corporate tax cuts; empower the White House to replace civil servants with ideological loyalists; and limit the government’s authority to enforce campaign finance laws designed to deter pay-to-play corruption.
And so much more. Women’s right to bodily autonomy is on their list as well.
And we have witness most of this being forced through with the gelding of Congress.
May they all have a painful retirement, very soon, because there is a cost to be paid by their anti democratic and human
rights violations.
John Dean says
All good points–thank you for making them.
And thanks for reading the piece.
Wilson Dean says
Trump’s infantile attempt at criticizing Springsteen is embarrassing to read as it simply reveals the President’s third grade vocabulary and declining mental capability. Even worse, Trump has no comprehension or appreciation for the American values Bruce highlights in his songs. I grieve for the United States having this clown as our President.
John Dean says
Thank you, as always, for the comment. It is often hard to believe that Trump is president.
HR Worthington says
John, are you still writing these things old boy? All I have to say is: What the hell are you doing on Truth Social, man? It might be finally time for an intervention. -HR
P.S. Nebraska was Springsteen’s only good album. The rest of his catalogue is rubbish.
Mickey Terrone says
Mr. Worthington, I trust that John Dean and Bruce Springsteen’s words (and lyrics) likely ring in your ears as sirens of truth and reality. I myself have not been much of a Springsteen fan but millions of other average white Americans are and have been his strongest supporters. His musical messages have resonated in the sale of over 140 million albums. And that is why Trump is forced to act the thug by deriding Springsteen.
That you would claim most all Springsteen’s music is “rubbish” is truly your own rubbish.
I suggest Bruce’s words will also ring ever stronger in the ears of those millions of average white Americans once they feel the pain of their parents’ and siblings’ losses of health care and insurance. They will feel the sting of authoritarian autocracy as severely as most other Americans of color.
I believe Mr. Dean’s writings consistently have a way of getting under the skin of Trump idealogues and sycophants, just like Bruce Springsteen. That’s because they are honest and forthright. They understand American values and appreciate the sacrifices made by thousands of Americans who gave their lives to preserve our liberties. Apparently, people like you are willing to support this authoritarian fascist’s campaign to undermine our American way of life.
Many of us understand the threat of Trumpism to our great American traditions. Other deluded average white Americans will have to learn the hard way. At some point, the little lights will go on in their heads and they’ll realize the errors of their blind trust and reliance on a pathological liar.
HR Worthington says
As a general matter, I don’t confuse musicians with political philosophers any more than I confused Biden as being sharp-as-a-tack or Jake Tapper as being a journalist.
To your point about honesty and foresight, I rather agree. How could I miss such gems of Mr. Dean? For he once mused:
“Maybe it’s our system of limited government. China has enjoyed great success at stopping the spread of the virus because of its authoritarian government. In China, when the government tells you to stay home, you stay home or ignore the order at your own peril. Here, consequences are minimal. We absolutely don’t want an authoritarian government here (at least most of us don’t), but as far as controlling a pandemic is concerned, it has its advantages.”
Brilliantly reasoned if you ask me. It rivals John Stuart Mill! Does it not age like a fine bottle of claret?
I pop in here occasionally now. Mr. Dean and his echo chamber provide immeasurably useful service which saves me a great deal of time. Whenever I wish to know what my self-anointed betters are thinking (or however you might describe their cogitations) a helpful summary is provided weekly. It takes less than a minute to read and even less time to consider, plus there are no commercial breaks. Plus, recently an upgraded feature has been added…Mr. Dean has a Truth Social account! Now, with my recovered time I can read other serious and original commentary with leisure. -HR
Mickey Terrone says
Mr. Worthington, of course you’d never confuse jake Tapper for a journalist. You’re version of journalism is the FOX News Fanatics, Hannity, Gutfeld, Watters, Ingram (and take your pick of any right-wing lunatic that comes to mind). These are the “journalists” who shamed the profession with their abysmally false claims against Dominion Voting Systems that cost NOX News $737 millions. That station’s “journalists” went on night after night, willfully lying to the American public on behalf of their fuhrer, to support his Big Lie about election fraud in the 2020 election. That Trump has used FOX News to continually repeat this claim has reinforced the dumbing down of the American public, so that many otherwise intelligent people believe the Big Lie. Thus, they support Trump’s “retaliatory” efforts to undermine those who rightfully sought to try and convict him. That numerous FOX News liars are literally integral parts of Trump’s administration speaks volumes against any public trust in what they say and do.
That you have the temerity to single out Jake Tapper demonstrates your ongoing complicity in the callous campaign by far-right American fanatics to establish lies as facts just as the National Socialist Party did in Germany in the 1930’s. Its the same borrowed principle of Josef Goebbels: The bigger the lie, the better.”
As a general matter, I don’t confuse many of Trump’s utterances with legitimate mental acuity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_and_health_concerns_about_Donald_Trump#:~:text=A%20shift%20in%20Trump's%20speeches,phrases%20could%20indicate%20cognitive%20decline.
I suppose Trump is under the additional pressure to remember to cover his previous lies in responding to reporters, but his blithering and numerous misstatements are clear signals of dangerously weakened brain function. Of course, its probably just as dangerous that so many people actually believe what Trump says about the 2020 election fraud and casually ignore the threats to their Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid safety nets. That so many average white Republicans unquestioningly support Trump’s massive tax giveaway to the richest few American billionaires requires unfavorable comparisons with average Germans’ buy-in to National Socialism in the 1930’s.
When Trump tells Panama the US will take over the Panama Canal, threatens to take over Greenland and to make all of Canada into one more State should remind people of Sudetenland or Czechoslovakia-type madness from the 1930s or Ukraine-type aggression today. It should be extremely troubling to average Republicans that Trump appears to be acting as if he’s already an autocratic dictator-in-training.
Meanwhile, our “conservative” Spy propagandists are wringing their hands about Governor Moore’s “Fiscal Apocalypse” and his “War” on the state. They’ll write anything to distract attention from the demented 500-lb gorilla in the White House.
Paul Rybon says
Not much new about Springsteen, sort of a new age Guthrie, except that Woodie had a sweeter voice. Also different, Springsteen has managed to parlay his visceral hatred of Republican POTUSes into a fortune. If he were a citizen of Great Britain, the monarchy would tax him 90 percent and call him Sir Bruce. Maybe that’s his real beef.
Ann P Farrell says
I’m hoping that Bruce lights a fire.
It’s what he said AFTER Trump’s comeback that is all the more admirable. He has more courage and patriotism and ability to stand his ground than all the business, academic and political spineless weaklings who bend pathetically to the fascist autocrat felon psychopath grifter traitor.
Judy Fauntleroy says
When you can’t make it to a demonstration, just roll down your car windows, and “roll the bowl” while blasting the music of Bruce Springsteen.
Chuck Critchlow says
Of course, Trump appropriated “Born in the USA” for his 2016 rallies—until Springsteen elected not to sue and instead announced support for Clinton. An inconvenient truth not mentioned in the latest Trump post.