Point/counterpoint: Bruce Springsteen vs. Donald Trump
- Pete Chianca
- May 17
- 3 min read
President Donald Trump, on his Truth Social platform, has responded to the remarks about his administration that Bruce Springsteen delivered from the stage in Manchester, UK. In the interest of fairness, we present here in a point-counterpoint format an analysis of the president’s response to Bruce’s criticisms.
Bruce: “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.”
Trump: “I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States.”
Analysis: Bruce’s comments fall squarely in the realm of opinion, and also would clearly qualify as protected free speech. Trump, for his part, is correct that Springsteen was in a foreign country (specifically, “Foreign Country”) when he made his remarks, although it’s a stretch to say he went there to “speak badly about the President of the United States.” (His presence in England probably has more to do with his long-planned, hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-grossing international tour.)
Advantage: Bruce
Bruce: “A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government.”
Trump: “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.”
Analysis: A lot to unpack here, but it is true that Bruce referred to Trump as “unfit,” which would arguably justify a response from the president. However, rather than defend his fitness for office, Trump decided to declare Bruce untalented (easily disproved) and “a pushy, obnoxious JERK,” which also flies in the face of a preponderance of evidence. It is probably true that Trump never liked Springsteen’s music, though, as Bruce’s songs deal with scenarios such as working all day in your daddy’s garage, as opposed to, say, working all day keeping people of color out of your daddy’s housing developments.
Advantage: Bruce
Bruce: “They have no concern or idea of what it means to be deeply American. The America that I've sung to you about for 50 years is real, and regardless of its faults, is a great country with a great people.”
Trump: “[Springsteen] fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country. If I wasn't elected, it would have been GONE by now!”
Analysis: Of these two remarks, Bruce’s seems decidedly more pro-America. Trump argues that America under Biden was a failing hellscape (or, as Trump might put it, “HELLSCAPE”) and would be “GONE” now if it weren’t for him. (Gone to where? Nobody knows.) But Bruce argues that the country is great no matter who is in charge.
Advantage: Bruce
Bruce: “Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us. Raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring.”
Trump: “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!”
Analysis: Trump makes a point that it’s sometimes frowned upon to criticize your country while on foreign soil. (Just ask the Dixie Chicks.) In Springsteen’s case it’s likely that it’s because that’s where he happened to be — his remarks about George W. Bush in 2007 (including during “Living in the Future” on the Today show) show he’s not afraid to be critical of the government when he’s here either. Besides, Bruce’s call for democracy and freedom seems pretty, well, American. But we’ll give Trump a point for a reasonable argument that Bruce could have waited until he got back to rip him a new one. (As for Trump’s other claim, we’ve seen Bruce up close and his skin is lovely.)
Advantage: Still Bruce, especially because of the skin thing.
So despite the president’s best efforts, we’ve determined that Bruce’s argument is generally stronger. As for “we'll all see how it goes for him!,” we have a feeling it will go just fine. Still, he should probably make sure his passport is in order when he gets back to New Jersey.
Springsteen often sings about his love for America. He took less than a minute to apologize for the mess that Trump has made. I found his words accurate. He did not complain about the presidency being undemocratic. He just pointed out the atrocities that are being perpetrated by Trump and his minions. I saw no mention of the 77m (not 80m) being idiots. Most singers make comments to their audience. It was political, but in my opinion, it was justified. I doubt that many felt it was a breaking of his contract. I personally feel that Trump is a monstrous bully. I'm 85 and I don't think I'll live to see the damage done by Trump being undone.
You miss the point : maybe deliberately. Springsteen had a contract with his audience - we turn up for the music and the event. But he replaced the concert with political propaganda. Sure , it's his opinion - just as it was when he decided to keep quiet for the 4 years that the White House was empty and America was in the hands of nameless puppeteers. But now he claims that the presidency is undemocratic and that 80m Americans who voted for him are idiots. This is a tragic event - Springsteen broke the deal with his fans and betrayed them to propaganda.
Everything Trump says is not a level discussion with counterarguments. It's just insulting barking...
Fervently biased opinion again of the US President, their was an election and the Harris/Waltz ticket was beaten, trounced. Democracy won.