Springsteen denounces Trump, ICE, and despair in Boston

Springsteen denounces – Bruce Springsteen used his TD Garden stop on Sunday night’s “Land of Hope and Dreams Tour” to deliver four separate remarks aimed at the country’s direction—warning that Americans are being tested on democracy, immigration enforcement, and civil rights—while h

When Bruce Springsteen stepped to the microphone at TD Garden on Sunday night. the song-and-story cadence of a “Land of Hope and Dreams Tour” show turned into a series of blunt. cascading statements—each one building toward a single message: he believes America is under strain. and he urged the crowd to choose hope anyway.

He opened by asking the audience to join in “a prayer for our men and women in service overseas. ” praying “for an end to this conflict and for their safe return.” From there. he said the E Street Band was “here tonight in celebration and defense of the American ideals and values that have sustained our country for 250 years. ” and he called on the audience to respond to what he described as an assault on “our democracy. our constitution. our rule of law.”.

Springsteen portrayed the moment as urgent and personal—“challenged right now as never before”—and directed sharp language at “a reckless. racist. incompetent. treasonous president and his ship of fools administration.” His rallying ask was immediate: “choosing hope over fear. democracy over authoritarianism. the rule of law over lawlessness. ethics over unbridled corruption. resistance over complacency. truth over lies. unity over division. and peace over war.”.

In a second set of remarks. he turned to Minneapolis. telling the Boston crowd that “this past winter” “federal troops brought death and terror to the streets of Minneapolis.” He said “they picked the wrong town. ” and he described “the power and solidarity of the people of Minnesota” as something that “was an inspiration to the entire country.” The choice he returned to was force versus community—“They stood shoulder to shoulder for their neighbor”—before shifting again to federal action he labeled as abusive: “and the gestapo tactics of this president and this administration will not stand here.”.

Then he named the people he said he would not let anyone forget. Springsteen said that “Alex Pretti. VA nurse. ” had been “executed by ICE and left to die in the street without even the decency of our lawless government investigating their deaths. ” and he added “Renee Good. mother of three. brutally murdered.” He said it was “nothing. nothing. nothing. ” and that “their bravery and their sacrifice and their names will not be forgotten.”.

Between those remarks and the next, Springsteen’s themes began to widen from specific episodes into a broader list of institutions and policies he said were failing—while insisting, again and again, that the stakes were now.

In a third segment. he said. “We are living through troubled and troubling times.” He pointed to what he called “an incompetent. unwise. and illegal war. ” saying “This is happening now.” He then said the “Supreme Court has gutted the Voting Rights Act” and that it had “historically set back our hard-fought-for civil rights movement. ” calling the civil-rights fight something people “marched. fought and gave their lives” for—“This is happening now.”.

He also said “there are immigrants being held in for-profit detention centers around the country. being deported without due process of law. ” calling it “unamerican and that’s happening now.” Turning to the Justice Department. Springsteen said. “Our Justice Department has completely abdicated its independence and it takes its marching orders directly from a corrupt White House. ” and he described federal prosecutions as targeting “our president’s perceived enemies” while “cover[ing] up for his misdeeds” and “protect[ing] his powerful friends”—“That’s happening now.”.

He then faulted what he described as cuts to international aid: “The richest men in America have abandoned the world’s poorest children to death and disease through the dismantling of USAID.” He said, “This is no longer on the front page, but children die every day. And this is happening now.”

Springsteen also raised what he described as strain on alliances and institutions. He said “We are undermining NATO and the world order that kept us safe and at global peace for 80 years.” He then said “Our museums are being told to whitewash American history of any unpleasant or inconvenient facts like the full history of the brutality of slavery. ” and he added. “You want to talk about snowflakes?. We have a president who can’t handle the truth.”.

He returned to domestic political fallout as well, saying “We have a president who wants to create a $1.8 billion fund to compensate and reward people who attacked our capital, our democracy, assaulted our police officers on January 6.” He called it “an American outrage and this is happening now.”

By the time he reached his broader conclusion, his remarks had sharpened into a verdict on reputation and identity. He said. “This White House is destroying the American ideal and our reputation around the world. ” and argued that the country “still stood as a beacon for hope. liberty. and freedom around the world.” He said. “And to many now. we are America. the reckless. unpredictable. predatory. untrustworthy rogue nation. That is this administration and this president’s legacy. And this is happening now.”.

His turn after that was not toward politics alone. but toward the values he said could keep people from sliding into despair. He listed them in a steady roll: “Honesty. Honor. Humility. Character. Integrity. Truth. Compassion. Humanity. Thoughtfulness. Morality. True strength and decency.” He urged the crowd not to accept defeat—“Don’t let anybody tell you that these things don’t matter anymore because they do”—and he said those principles are “at the heart of the kind of men and women we are. the kind of citizens we want to be. the kind of country we want to leave to our children.”.

Springsteen said many elected leaders had “failed us. ” and he placed the responsibility back on the public: “this American tragedy can only be stopped by the American people. You. There is no one coming to save us. We’ve got to do it ourselves.” He asked the crowd. “So join us and let’s fight for the America that we love. ” repeating. “Do you hear me. Boston?” and finishing with “Let’s go.”.

After that, he widened the moment with a more intimate memory. In the final set of remarks, he said, “Thank you for supporting our band all these years,” recalling the early ’70s when he and the band played “at Joe’s Place, Charlie’s Place,” when he “was 24.”

He told the crowd the E Street Band was “built for hard times,” and said, “We will make it through these because of the love, faith, anger, and hope in your heart and soul, and the timeless belief that better days lie ahead. This is how America renews itself.”

He then described the distance he sees between people. “The hardest part for me has been feeling the distance between you and your neighbors, between you and your fellow citizens. That distance is painful and it can darken your soul.”

He also singled out a moral contradiction he said the country shouldn’t accept: “We have a president who says he wishes nothing but ill upon those who he disagrees with. That’s not the country I want to live in.” Springsteen said America’s founding came from dispute—“From the beginning. America was born out of disagreement. It’s an argument. It’s an ongoing. blessed. sacred argument about what course the country should take to form that more perfect union”—and he insisted people can “argue about these things and still recognize our common humanity. our dignity. and our unity.”.

He brought the remarks back to Renee Good one final time. tying politics to the human last moments of a life he described earlier. “The most heartbreaking example of what I’m trying to say was Renee Good’s last words. ” he said. explaining that “The last words that she spoke to the man who minutes later would take her life. would kill her.” Springsteen said she “rolled down the window and the last thing she said was. ‘I’m not mad at you. I’m not mad. God bless you.’”.

His closing instructions mixed activism and spirituality. “So, when you go home tonight, hold your loved ones close and in the morning, do as Renee did. Find a way to take aggressive peaceful action to defend our country’s ideals and do as the great civil rights leader John Lewis said. Go out and get in some good trouble.”.

He ended with an encouragement meant for anyone feeling overwhelmed: “Say something. do something. give something. sing something … That’s all right if we’re feeling helpless. hopeless. frustrated. betrayed. angry. I understand.” He said. “That’s why we’re here tonight. ” adding. “We needed to feel your strength and your hope and your faith. And we needed to bring you some strength and to bring you some hope and to bring you some faith. I hope we’ve done that tonight.”.

He finished with blessings: “So, God bless Alex Pretti. God bless Renee Good. God bless you, and God bless America.”

Bruce Springsteen TD Garden Land of Hope and Dreams Tour Trump ICE Minneapolis Renee Good Alex Pretti Voting Rights Act USAID NATO John Lewis