Bruce Springsteen is afraid that if Donald Trump wins a second presidential term in the forthcoming November election, democracy in the United States may not survive his four-year tenure.
In a recent interview with The Atlantic, The Boss weighed in on the Black Lives Matter movement unfurling internationally, and Donald Trump’s controversial bible photo-op outside Washington’s St John’s Church.
“I believe we may have finally reached a presidential tipping point with that Lafayette Square walk,” Springsteen shared. The songwriter condemned Trump’s actions as being “so outrageously anti-American, so totally buffoonish and so stupid, and so anti–freedom of speech.
“And we have a video of it that will live on forever.”
The Boss mused that the Black Lives Matter movement evokes memories of the 1960s civil rights movement.
“When the SpaceX rocket was going up and cities were burning,” he said, “I had a 1968 flashback.” (On May 27th, two astronauts from NASA made a successful launch into Earth’s orbit inside the SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.)
Springsteen expressed hope that the mass protests may incite positive change in the country, though he is cautious that a second Trump presidential term could have dire effects on the US.
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“I believe that our current president is a threat to our democracy. He simply makes any kind of reform that much harder,” Springsteen added.
“I don’t know if our democracy could stand another four years of his custodianship. These are all existential threats to our democracy and our American way of life.”
“With 100,000 plus Americans dying over the last few months and the empty, shamed response from our leaders, I’ve been simply pissed off,” Springsteen shared. “Those lives deserve better than being simply inconvenient statistics for our president’s reelection efforts. It’s a national disgrace.”
“So instead of celebrating the joys of summer today, we will be contemplating on our current circumstances with the coronavirus and the cost that it has drawn from our nation. We will be calculating what we’ve lost, sending prayers for the deceased, and the families they’ve left behind.”
Continuing on, Springsteen directed a personal message to President Trump due to the leaders continuous refusal to cover his face while in public stating: “With all respect, sir, show some consideration and care for your countrymen and your country. Put on a fucking mask.”
