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Bruce Springsteen has starkly warned that democracy in the United States may not survive another four years if Donald Trump wins a second presidential term in November.
In a new interview with The Atlantic, The Boss also lambasted Trump for using tear gas to clear protestors earlier this month, in order to pose with a bible during a bizarre photo opportunity outside Washington’s St John’s Church.
“I believe we may have finally reached a presidential tipping point with that Lafayette Square walk,” Springsteen said, adding that it was “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.”
He reflected on the Black Lives Matter protests that have emerged in the wake of George Floyd, and said it reminded him of the 1960s civil rights movement when he was growing up.
“When the SpaceX rocket was going up and cities were burning,” he said, “I had a 1968 flashback.”
While Springsteen added that the diversity of the protestors makes him optimistic for the future, a second Presidential term for Trump could threaten US.
“I believe that our current president is a threat to our democracy. He simply makes any kind of reform that much harder,” he said.
“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.”
He went on to share a playlist of music that reflects the current era – which included ‘Strange Fruit’ by Billie Holiday, ‘Made in America’ by JAY-Z and Kanye West, and Patti Smith’s ‘People Have the Power’.
He also chose some of his own tracks, including his own reflection on police brutality ‘American Skin (41 Shots)’, and ‘That’s What Makes Us Great’, acollaboration with Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers.
Last week, Springsteen also criticised Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, telling him to “put on a fucking mask”.
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