President Donald Trump “is a threat to our democracy,” and that he “makes any kind of reform that much harder,” Bruce Springsteen said in an interview with The Atlantic released on Wednesday.
Springsteen, who has criticized Trump in the past, said that he’s unsure of what will happen as a result of the coronavirus and the Black Lives Matter movement, but he doesn’t think Trump will help improve things.
“Do we get a real practical conversation going about race and policing and ultimately about the economic inequality that’s been a stain on our social contract?” Springsteen asked.
“And of course, nobody knows where our next election is going to take us,” he continued. “I believe that our current president is a threat to our democracy. He simply makes any kind of reform that much harder. 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.”
Springsteen also said that despite the situation, he remains hopeful, noting: “any time there is a 50-foot Black Lives Matter sign leading to the White House, that’s a good sign. And the demonstrations have been white people and black people and brown people gathering together in the enraged name of love. That’s a good sign.”
He went on to say that Trump’s having protesters cleared so he could have a photo-op outside a church was “totally buffoonish and so stupid, and so anti-freedom of speech,” which may have marked “a presidential tipping point.”
Springsteen said, “I have the feeling of optimism about the next election. I think it’s all these kids in the street that are inspiring the most hope in me. And the fact that these are demonstrations that are going on around the world. I think it’s a movement that ultimately is going to be about more than police violence, and George Floyd, may he rest in peace.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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