Springsteen doubles down on political criticism with a digital EP that includes anti-Trump comments
The rock star released a digital EP on Wednesday with four songs recorded live in Manchester, England last week, along with two of his addresses to the audience that attacked Trump's 'corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.'
The Boss pointedly opened his concert in Manchester Tuesday night, his third in the English city, with the song 'No Surrender.'
A satirical video posted on Trump's social media account on Wednesday showed the Republican president taking a swing on the golf course and his 'ball' hitting Springsteen in the back as he stumbles to get onstage.
Springsteen, long a Trump opponent, began the latest skirmish in the culture war in England last week, where he opened a European tour. His same-state neighbor Trump — they both have homes in New Jersey — responded by calling the Boss a 'dried-out prune of a rocker.'
Both men have had other rock stars leap to their defense. Trump supporter Kid Rock appeared twice on Fox News Channel last week. He said his fellow Michigander, Bob Seger, 'smokes' Springsteen.
'Bruce Springsteen is another one of the liberals who has mountains of money who so desperately wants to keep his good standing in the eyes of Hollywood and the elite,' Kid Rock said. Springsteen 'plays the working-class guy' but his politics are 'ass-backward,' he said.
On Fox's influential show 'The Five,' former White House press secretary Dana Perino said she always found Springsteen overrated, and Greg Gutfeld denounced him with an off-color slur.
Neil Young has backed Springsteen, and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder praised him during a concert in Pittsburgh over the weekend. Springsteen brought up issues, and in response 'all that we heard were personal attacks and threats that nobody else should even try to use their microphones or use their voices in public or they will be shut down,' Vedder said.
'The name-calling is so beneath us,' said Vedder, before Pearl Jam performed Young's 'Rockin' in the Free World.'
For Springsteen, 'No Surrender' replaced 'Land of Hope and Dreams' atop his concert set list. The EP released digitally on Wednesday also contained a cover of Bob Dylan's 'Chimes of Freedom.'
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David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.
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USA Today
34 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump's golf trip to Scotland reopens old wounds for some of his neighbors
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They and others also say he's failed to deliver on his promises to bring thousands of jobs to the area. Those old wounds are being reopened as Trump returns to Scotland for a four-day visit beginning July 25. It's the country where his mother was born. He appears to have great affection for it. Trump is visiting his golf resorts at Turnberry, on the west coast about 50 miles from Glasgow, and at Balmedie, where Forbes' 23 acres of jumbled, tractor-strewn land, which he shares with roaming chickens and three Highland cows, abut Trump's glossy and manicured golf resort. On July 28, Trump will briefly meet in Balmedie with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to "refine" a recent U.S.-U.K. trade deal, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. 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Trump, he said, "threw in some jewelry," a golf club membership (Milne doesn't play), use of a spa (not yet built) and the right to buy, at cost, a house in a related development (not yet constructed). Milne valued the offer at about half the market rate. When Milne refused that offer, he said that landscapers working for Trump partially blocked the views from his house by planting a row of trees and sent Milne a $3,500 bill for a fence they'd built around his garden. Milne refused to pay. Over the years, Milne has pushed back. He flew a Mexican flag at his house for most of 2016, after Trump vowed to build a wall on the southern American border and make Mexico pay for it. Milne, a health and safety consultant in the energy industry, has hosted scores of journalists and TV crews at his home, where he has patiently explained the pros and cons − mostly cons, in his view, notwithstanding his own personal stake in the matter − of Trump's development for the local area. 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Yahoo
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San Francisco Chronicle
40 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
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