Bruce Springsteen has launched a scathing attack on US President Donald Trump's administration, which he called "treasonous".
The Boss heavily criticised the president, while on stage at Manchester's Co-Up Live, on the opening night of a UK and European Tour, which will run until July. Springsteen will of course be playing these shows with the E Street Band.
Whilst on stage, Springsteen blasted the "corruption" and "incompetence" of the Trump administration in a series of rants during the gig.
At the start, Bruce Springsteen kicked things off with a live rendition of 'Land of Hope and Dreams', telling the audience: “It’s great to be in Manchester and back in the UK. Welcome to the Land of Hope and Dreams Tour! The mighty E St. Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ‘n roll in dangerous times".
Springsteen continued: “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 experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!".
Ahead of playing 'House of a Thousand Guitars', Bruce Springsteen aimed another dig at the Trump administration.
“The last check, the last check on power after the checks and balances of government have failed are the people, you and me. It’s in the union of people around a common set of values now that’s all that stands between a democracy and authoritarianism. At the end of the day, all we’ve got is each other", he said.
In his third and final political statement on stage, Springsteen warned: “There’s some very weird, strange, and dangerous s*** going on out there right now. In America they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now".
He added: “In America the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. This is happening now. In my country they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers. They’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that has led to a more just and plural society. They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They are defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands. They are removing residents off American streets and without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centers and prisons. This is all happening now".
“A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. They have no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American. The America l’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real and regardless of its faults is a great country with a great people. So we’ll survive this moment. Now, I have hope, because I believe in the truth of what the great American writer James Baldwin said, he said ‘in this world there isn’t as much humanity as one would like, but there’s enough.’ Let’s pray".
Bruce Springsteen has been a long time critic of Donald Trump. Last year, The Boss endorsed Trump's presidential opponent Kamala Harris ahead of last November's election. More on this here.
