In recent months, Bruce Springsteen has been extremely vocal about his dislike of President Donald Trump. At several of his recent shows, The Boss has openly criticized the administration, calling it “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous.”
Now, in a new interview with The New York Times, Springsteen has once again called out Trump and the current situation unfolding in the United States.
“It’s an American tragedy,” he told the publication. “I think that it was the combination of the deindustrialization of the country and then the incredible increase in wealth disparity that left so many people behind. It was ripe for a demagogue. And while I can’t believe it was this moron that came along, he fit the bill for some people.”
Reflecting on Trump’s first few months in office, Springsteen added that “what we’ve been living through in the last 70 days is things that we all said, ‘This can’t happen here. This will never happen in America.’ And here we are.”
The musician went on to slam Trump’s immigration policies – which have prompted widely criticized ICE raids throughout the country. “There’s a large migrant population that lives and has altered Freehold in a very vibrant way,” Springsteen said of his hometown in New Jersey.
“There are communities all across America now that have taken in immigrants and migrant workers. So what’s going on at the moment to me is disgusting, and a terrible tragedy.”
Despite all of this, Springsteen believes that not all hope is lost, maintaining optimism for the future of the country.
“We have a long democratic history,” Springsteen said. “We don’t have an autocratic history as a nation. It’s fundamentally democratic, and I believe that at some point that’s going to rear its head and things will swing back.”
“Let’s knock on wood,” he added.
