Bruce Springsteen has lost of his none of edge or his willingness to speak truth to power. In just the latest example, the rock icon excoriated Donald Trump from the stage throughout a Springsteen and E Street Band concert in Manchester, U.K. on Wednesday, describing the U.S. as being “currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.”
“The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ‘n roll in dangerous times,” a passionate Springsteen said speaking from the stage in before playing the “Land of Hope and Dreams.”
He added, “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. 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 on in the concert, according to local reports, Springsteen returned to bashing Trump. Stereogum reported that before a solo rendition of “House Of A Thousand Guitars,” Springsteen said, “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 a democracy and authoritarianism. At the end of the day, all we’ve got is each other.”
And still later in the set, Stereogum reported that Springsteen gave a lengthy speech before playing his song “My City Of Ruins.” “There’s some very weird, strange, and dangerous shit going on out there right now. 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. In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers. They’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that has led to a more just and plural society. They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They are defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands. They are removing residents off American streets and, without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centers and prisons. This is all happening now.”
Springsteen conclude, “A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. They have no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American. The America l’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real and regardless of its faults is a great country with a great people. So we’ll survive this moment. 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.”
Springsteen, who is currently on the global The Land of Hope and Dreams Tour, is no stranger to fierce criticism of Trump and has been a staunch critic of Donald Trump throughout his first term as president. In October 2019, Springsteen said in an interview with CBS This Morning that Trump “doesn’t have a grasp of the deep meaning of what it means to be an American.”