Bruce Springsteen delivered a forceful rebuke of the “Gestapo tactics against our fellow citizens” that he said are on display in Minneapolis and other cities across America at the direction of Donald Trump, during a surprise appearance at the Light of Day festival in Red Bank, New Jersey, on Saturday night.
In a speech introducing a performance of “The Promised Land,” Springsteen said, “The United States, the ideals and the values for which it stood for the past 250 years, is being tested as it has never been in modern times. Those values and those ideals have never been as endangered as they are right now.”
He then issued a rallying call, urging his “fellow citizens” to “send a message to this President.”
“So as we gather tonight in this beautiful display of love and care and thoughtfulness and community; if you believe in democracy, in liberty; if you believe that truth still matters, and that it’s worth speaking out, and it’s worth fighting for; if you believe in the power of the law and that no one stands above it; if you stand against heavily armed masked federal troops invading American cities, and using Gestapo tactics against our fellow citizens; if you believe you don’t deserve to be murdered for exercising your American right to protest, then send a message to this President. And as the mayor of that city has said, ICE should get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”
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Springsteen then closed his remarks by dedicating his performance of “The Promised Land” to “the mother of three and American citizen, Renee Good.”
This is far from the first time Springsteen has poked his finger in Trump’s eye. Revisit our Consequence Chat from earlier this year on why the clash between The Boss and POTUS matters.
