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After returning to the United States following a four-day tour, President Donald Trump posted to several social media posts. His targets included members of the U.S. Supreme Court and singer Bruce Springsteen, who had offered a scathing remark about the president during a recent concert. President Donald Trump said about the 75-year-old singer:
"...Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL..."
The comments marked a turning point towards focusing attention on internal disputes on matters of international diplomacy, bringing together escalating tensions between the White House and major public figures.
President Donald Trump went after personalities and institutions in a two-pronged attack on Twitter on May 16. First, he attacked musicians Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen, who have publicly declared their backing for Kamala Harris in the next presidential election and have been critical voices of Donald Trump for years.
Then, he targeted the Supreme Court, criticizing the judges for having prevented his administration from imposing an 18th-century war-era law that was passed in 1798 on deporting Venezuelan immigrants. The president's tweet rampage emphasized his irritation with cultural elites and judicial barriers preventing his policies.
Bruce Springsteen called Trump an "American tyrant"
Bruce Springsteen, a veteran of Democratic politics, last year publicly denounced President Donald Trump as an "American tyrant" and openly endorsed Ex-Vice President Kamala Harris's candidacy for the 2024 presidential elections. The Jersey Shore native, who remains fond of spending summers at the Shore, kicked off his "Land of Hope and Dreams" tour in the United Kingdom on May 14, and in that concert reaffirmed his criticism of the president.
Responding to Springsteen's harsh words, country rock musician Kid Rock, a vociferous Trump supporter who had performed at his inauguration, argued back during a Friday morning appearance on Fox News in the president's defense against Springsteen's remarks.
Such exchange functions to highlight the dominant cultural and political divide between influential voices who identify with opposite sides.
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President Donald Trump hits back at Springsteen over Manchester concert speech
Before he set his sights on the Supreme Court, Donald Trump had already stirred controversy by taking on Bruce Springsteen, who had delivered a politicized speech in his May 14 Manchester performance. Without directly mentioning the president, Springsteen condemned the present leadership of the United States as corrupt and out of place, urging his international listeners to push back against rising authoritarianism.
His own social media comments, which quickly went viral, described America as a nation in peril of losing its democratic values, comments that prompted an instant, withering denunciation from Donald Trump later that week. Springsteen told the British crowd:
"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 spirit to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring. This is 'Land of Hope and Dreams.' "
Trump reignites feud with Springsteen, calls him an 'Obnoxious JERK' and 'Political Adversary'
Donald Trump publicly expressed his long-time disdain for Bruce Springsteen, even though his campaign had earlier employed the singer's music at campaign rallies. Calling Springsteen overrated, Donald Trump criticized the president's musical ability as well as his left-leaning politics.
Trump also hinted that the artist could face action upon arrival in the U.S., citing Springsteen's vocal endorsement of Joe Biden as the leading reason for his anger. With these comments, Donald Trump characterized Springsteen not only as an entertainer but as a political rival who was actively engaged in opposing him. In his words:
"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, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country."
Donald Trump employed social media to respond to Springsteen's comments and political endorsements. The exchange is representative of the larger communication between political leaders and popular figures.
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What did Kid Rock say about Bruce Springsteen?
On May 16, on FOX & Friends, Kid Rock, a country singer, strongly condemned Bruce Springsteen's recent criticism of President Donald Trump at his tour. Kid Rock labeled the comments made by Springsteen as a "punk move," condemning the rocker for his open resistance to Donald Trump.
Recognized more recently for his own vocal political criticism, Kid Rock posited that Springsteen suffers from what he referred to as "TDS," or Trump Derangement Syndrome, a term to describe abject and reflexive opposition to the president.
This exchange is representative of the increasing rift between public artists, as some are firmly taking a political stance and openly criticizing those who disagree with them. In his words:
"To be in Europe talking junk about our president who gets up and works his ass off for this country, every day, and his administration is doing such great things."
Donald Trump also criticized Taylor Swift
Just before he spoke about Bruce Springsteen, Donald Trump went on social media to weigh in on Taylor Swift's popularity. In a posting less than an hour prior, he implied that Swift's popularity has declined since he made his disdain for her public.
The post implied causality between his negative comments and a decline in her public standing. This entry is one of a series of remarks in which Donald Trump employs his social media account to call out celebrities who have expressed opposition or signaled support for his political opponents.
Recently, he said:
"Has anyone noticed that, since I said 'I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,' she’s no longer 'HOT?'"
Following Taylor Swift's public endorsement of Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, the president pushed back on social media in September with a raw and personal reply, stating,
"I hate Taylor Swift."
Taylor Swift had supported Kamala Harris shortly after the only general election debate featuring Trump and Harris, where the pop star used her active social media following to back the Democratic vice president. She aptly termed herself on her Instagram as a "Childless Cat Lady," a straightforward and sarcastic jab aimed at JD Vance's newly popularized words on people without children.
This event not only highlighted the importance of celebrity endorsements in modern-day political campaigns but also indicated how political rhetoric has spilled over into the cultural and social arenas, with public icons such as Taylor Swift having immediate impacts upon the nature of discourse and eliciting intense reactions from political leaders.
Taylor Swift's exchange with the president is but one example of the greater overlap between entertainment, politics, and social commentary in today's mass media culture.
The exchanges between Trump and Springsteen are representative of the stark political and cultural cleavages in modern America. Both public figures utilize their platforms to issue conflicting assessments, with Springsteen using public platforms to attack the administration and Donald Trump using social media platforms to directly address such attacks.
Their exchanges are part of a larger phenomenon of politics leaking into the world of entertainment, where public figures get to be leading voices in the national discussion.
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