According to NME, Bruce Springsteen recently spoke about what being patriot in America means to him, amid conversation around his outspoken dislike of President Donald Trump. The artist has previously referred to Trump as “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous,” has called for him to be impeached and said that he should be “co-signed to the trash heap of history.” Trump has responded to Springsteen in like, calling him a “pushy, obnoxious jerk” and a “dried up prune of a rocker.” In an interview, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung criticized the artist and his recent tour earlier this year, calling him a “loser” and claiming that he had a “severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his brain.”
Springsteen has most notably criticized the Trump administration heavily for their support and deployment of ICE. In response to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were both killed by ICE agents earlier this year, he released the protest song “Streets Of Minneapolis.”
When asked to defend his strong political stances against the president, Springsteen responded, “In believe in critical patriotism. I believe that’s the definition of a patriot, you know, that you love your country so much that you are willing to look at it clearly, recognise its faults, encourage it to be a better place, and believe that you carry in your heart the country that is waiting.”
However, within the artist’s “critical patriotism” remains optimism for the country’s future, despite present circumstances. “I think we’re going through a very, very difficult period, but I tend to remain realistically optimistic,” he continued. “That the country will pull out of it and something new will be born from it that is good.”
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