Former Trump administration strategist Steve Bannon led a chorus of outraged MAGA voices in attacking Bruce Springsteen’s new protest song, using a homophobic slur to deride the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.
“Dude, Bruce Springsteen, you’re fake and gay, as the kids say,” Bannon said last Thursday on his “War Room” podcast.
Released last Wednesday, Springsteen’s “Streets of Minneapolis” condemned what he called the “state terror” of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the Twin Cities and across the nation.
Springsteen dedicated the song to Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were both shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis last month, along with the people of Minneapolis and “our innocent immigrant neighbors.”
In the song, Springsteen slams “King Trump” and his “private army” of federal agents. He also rebukes Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House aide Stephen Miller for their “dirty lies.”
Days after releasing the song, Springsteen joined Rage Against the Machine co-founder Tom Morello in Minneapolis for the Defend Minnesota benefit concert. Teased as Morello’s “very special guest,” Springsteen performed “Streets of Minneapolis” live for the first time to raise money for the families of Good and Pretti.
While Bannon admitted the tune was “kind of catchy,” he presented Springsteen’s musical activism as a warning sign to President Donald Trump and his MAGA base.
“Bruce is throwing down for the revolution. Going on offense, folks,” Bannon said.
Bannon’s criticism was parroted by several notable conservative commentators and MAGA-aligned influencers.
Andrew Kolvet, a spokesman for conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA, panned the song as “leftwing propaganda.”
Fox News digital columnist David Marcus and the Wall Street Journal editor Matthew Hennessey dismissed Springsteen’s song, with the latter criticizing its “undercooked lyrics” and “overcooked delivery.”
“Bruce Springsteen is a shameless misery merchant,” said Matt Rooney, an executive director with the Trump-allied America First Policy Institue.
White House spokesman Abigail Jackson called the song “irrelevant” in a statement issued last week. Trump has not yet publicly commented on the new protest anthem, though he has previously insulted Springsteen as “a pushy, obnoxious JERK.”
“The Trump Administration is focused on encouraging state and local Democrats to work with federal law enforcement officers on removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens from their communities – not random songs with irrelevant opinions and inaccurate information,” Jackson said.
Before playing “Streets of Minneapolis” at the benefit concert last week, Springsteen recalled telling Morello that the song sounded “kinda soapboxy” after he first recorded it.
“He says, ‘Bruce, nuance is wonderful, but sometimes you have to kick them in the teeth,” Springsteen said.
