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The Boss on The Apprentice: Springsteen Calls Trump "Basically a Moron"
"Without overstating it, it's a tragedy for our democracy," the rock legend told Rolling Stone
Sep 23, 2016
Bruce Springsteen, the rock n' roll embodiment of the Everyman, minced no words when asked his thoughts on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. "The republic is under siege by a moron, basically," the singer told Rolling Stone magazine in an interview preview published Friday.
"Without overstating it, it's a tragedy for our democracy," he continued.
"The ideas he's moving to the mainstream are all very dangerous ideas--white nationalism and the alt-right movement," Springsteen added. "Once you let those genies out of the bottle, they don't go back in so easy, if they go back in at all."
Echoing the progressive argument that Trump's popularity--much like the United Kingdom's Brexit vote--is a reaction to the global, capitalist system, Springsteen said that he believes "that there's a price being paid for not addressing the real cost of the deindustrialization and globalization that has occurred in the United States for the past 35, 40 years and how it's deeply affected people's lives and deeply hurt people to where they want someone who says they have a solution."
"And Trump's thing," he added, "is simple answers to very complex problems. Fallacious answers to very complex problems. And that can be very appealing."
No stranger to politics, the Boss has written songs about poverty, police brutality, the danger of nuclear weapons and energy, and the ravages of war, among other issues. In both 2008 and 2012, he actively campaigned for President Barack Obama.
Rolling Stone noted that he hasn't "chosen to do anything with the campaign this year," and asked if he feels a "lack of enthusiasm for [Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton]." Springsteen responded, "No. I like Hillary. I think she would be a very, very good president."
"I think you have a limited amount of impact as an entertainer, performer, or musician," he continued. "I feel what I've done was certainly worth doing," referring to his previous activism. "And I did it at the time because I felt the country was in crisis, which it certainly is right now."
If the Clinton campaign approached him, he said he would "take it into consideration and see where it goes."
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Bruce Springsteen, the rock n' roll embodiment of the Everyman, minced no words when asked his thoughts on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. "The republic is under siege by a moron, basically," the singer told Rolling Stone magazine in an interview preview published Friday.
"Without overstating it, it's a tragedy for our democracy," he continued.
"The ideas he's moving to the mainstream are all very dangerous ideas--white nationalism and the alt-right movement," Springsteen added. "Once you let those genies out of the bottle, they don't go back in so easy, if they go back in at all."
Echoing the progressive argument that Trump's popularity--much like the United Kingdom's Brexit vote--is a reaction to the global, capitalist system, Springsteen said that he believes "that there's a price being paid for not addressing the real cost of the deindustrialization and globalization that has occurred in the United States for the past 35, 40 years and how it's deeply affected people's lives and deeply hurt people to where they want someone who says they have a solution."
"And Trump's thing," he added, "is simple answers to very complex problems. Fallacious answers to very complex problems. And that can be very appealing."
No stranger to politics, the Boss has written songs about poverty, police brutality, the danger of nuclear weapons and energy, and the ravages of war, among other issues. In both 2008 and 2012, he actively campaigned for President Barack Obama.
Rolling Stone noted that he hasn't "chosen to do anything with the campaign this year," and asked if he feels a "lack of enthusiasm for [Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton]." Springsteen responded, "No. I like Hillary. I think she would be a very, very good president."
"I think you have a limited amount of impact as an entertainer, performer, or musician," he continued. "I feel what I've done was certainly worth doing," referring to his previous activism. "And I did it at the time because I felt the country was in crisis, which it certainly is right now."
If the Clinton campaign approached him, he said he would "take it into consideration and see where it goes."
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Bruce Springsteen, the rock n' roll embodiment of the Everyman, minced no words when asked his thoughts on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. "The republic is under siege by a moron, basically," the singer told Rolling Stone magazine in an interview preview published Friday.
"Without overstating it, it's a tragedy for our democracy," he continued.
"The ideas he's moving to the mainstream are all very dangerous ideas--white nationalism and the alt-right movement," Springsteen added. "Once you let those genies out of the bottle, they don't go back in so easy, if they go back in at all."
Echoing the progressive argument that Trump's popularity--much like the United Kingdom's Brexit vote--is a reaction to the global, capitalist system, Springsteen said that he believes "that there's a price being paid for not addressing the real cost of the deindustrialization and globalization that has occurred in the United States for the past 35, 40 years and how it's deeply affected people's lives and deeply hurt people to where they want someone who says they have a solution."
"And Trump's thing," he added, "is simple answers to very complex problems. Fallacious answers to very complex problems. And that can be very appealing."
No stranger to politics, the Boss has written songs about poverty, police brutality, the danger of nuclear weapons and energy, and the ravages of war, among other issues. In both 2008 and 2012, he actively campaigned for President Barack Obama.
Rolling Stone noted that he hasn't "chosen to do anything with the campaign this year," and asked if he feels a "lack of enthusiasm for [Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton]." Springsteen responded, "No. I like Hillary. I think she would be a very, very good president."
"I think you have a limited amount of impact as an entertainer, performer, or musician," he continued. "I feel what I've done was certainly worth doing," referring to his previous activism. "And I did it at the time because I felt the country was in crisis, which it certainly is right now."
If the Clinton campaign approached him, he said he would "take it into consideration and see where it goes."
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