US Musicians Union speaks out against Donald Trump following Bruce Springsteen rant
The US Musicians Union have responded to Donald Trump’s latest rant attacking musician Bruce Springsteen, in which he called the musician a “pushy, obnoxious jerk” and curiously a “dried out prune”.
Trump also attacked Taylor Swift recently on his social media platform Truth Social, posting: “Has anyone noticed that, since I said ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,’ she’s no longer ‘HOT?’”
The statement from the American Federation of Musicians responded to these rants. It began: “[We] will not remain silent as two of our members—Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift—are singled out and personally attacked by the President of the United States.”
AFM President Tino Gagliardi also said that, “Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift are not just brilliant musicians, they are role models and inspirations to millions of people in the United States and across the world.”
The statement closes clearly opposing Trump’s words: “Musicians have the right to freedom of expression, and we stand in solidarity with all our members.”
The feud between the President and Springsteen comes after the musician used the opening night of his European tour in Manchester on May 14th to lambast Trump. He said to the crowd: “In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, and has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.”
Later, during the same concert, Springsteen delivered his longest speech of the night before playing’ My City of Ruins’. He began by saying, “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 response, Trump responded with a rant of his own: “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.”
After touching on Trump’s support of Biden, he then seemingly threatened Springsteen, adding, “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!”
Springsteen, who will be played by Jeremy Allen White in an upcoming biopic about his life, will have the opportunity to respond to Trump when he performs again at Manchester’s Co-op Live on May 17th.
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