New Jersey: The air between two of New Jersey’s most famous septuagenarians, Bruce Springsteen and Donald Trump, has curdled into a pungent mix of insults and political accusations. What began as a seemingly innocuous observation of shared demographics – both men are 70-somethings with New Jersey ties and a substantial following among older white American males – has rapidly devolved into a public feud, with Trump unleashing his characteristic verbal broadsides, calling Springsteen a “dried-out prune” and an “obnoxious jerk,” while Springsteen labels the Trump administration “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous.”
This escalating war of words, played out on international stages and social media, highlights the stark ideological chasm between the rock icon and the former president. Springsteen, long a voice for the working class and a chronicler of American struggles, has never shied away from political commentary. His recent scathing remarks from a British stage, denouncing a “rogue” government and an “unfit president,” are merely the latest iteration of a decades-long commitment to using his platform for social and political advocacy. From questioning Ronald Reagan’s understanding of his music’s deeper meaning to lambasting Chris Christie, Springsteen has consistently challenged figures he perceives as undermining American ideals.
The irony of Trump, a New York City-born real estate mogul who has adopted New Jersey as a primary residence, clashing with the quintessential voice of the Garden State is not lost. Springsteen’s pointed jab about a “con man from Queens” undoubtedly stings, hitting at Trump’s cultivated image of Manhattan power.
