A growing feud between president Donald Trump and rock music legend Bruce Springsteen has fans of The Boss recalling another run-in with a former president.
Springsteen called out Trump and his administration during a recent performance in Manchester, England. The veteran songwriter behind hits such as Glory Days, Thunder Road, and No Surrender branded the current American government “corrupt” and “incompetent.”
His speech to the crowd at the Co-Op Live Arena had him call on fans to “raise their voice against authoritarianism.”
He said: “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!”
Springsteen’s comments on Trump left some Reddit users recalling a previous feud The Boss had with former president Ronald Reagan.
The 40th President of the United States used Springsteen’s song, Born in the USA, during his election campaign. He appears to have missed the point of the song, though, as Springsteen pointed out at the time.
In a speech delivered in September 1984, Reagan said: “America’s future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts; it rests in the message of hope in the songs of a man so many young Americans admire: New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen.
“And helping you make those dreams come true is what this job of mine is all about.” Many expressed their scepticism at Reagan knowing who Springsteen was, however, and the rockstar himself even responded to the comments.
He said the song had been misused by Reagan during the speech, and addressed its use by the Republican party during a live show just two days after Reagan made his speech.
Reagan had called the song one of hope, and Springsteen countered, saying: “The president was mentioning my name the other day, and I kinda got to wondering what his favorite album musta been. I don’t think it was the Nebraska album. I don’t think he’s been listening to this one.”
Fans of Born in the USA agreed with Springsteen, with one user in an r/todayilearned thread suggesting those who “thought it was some patriotic song are people who never listened to the lyrics.”
Decades later, Springsteen finds himself in another back-and-forth – this time with current president Donald Trump, who lashed out at the songwriter in a post to Truth Social after The Boss’ first Manchester show.
Trump dubbed Springsteen a “prune of a rocker,” which Springsteen countered during his second Co-Op Live Arena show. Springsteen said: “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.”