As Bruce Springsteen continues to speak out against the current U.S. administration on tour, President Donald J. Trump continues to not brush it off but attempt to hit back even harder — this time in the form of actually calling for there to be “major investigations” into Springsteen and other superstar entertainers for their support of his opponent, Kamala Harris, in the 2024 election.
In his posts on his Truth Social app, Trump repeated baseless allegations about top superstars being paid to throw their support behind Harris last year, calling endorsements by Springsteen, Beyoncé, Bono and Oprah Winfrey on behalf of the Democratic candidate “corrupt and unlawful.” The president’s late-night social-media call for a criminal investigation followed news that Springsteen had spoken against administration policies at a second concert Saturday, after the rocker had come under attack from the president for speaking up at a previous show.
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Offering no evidence for his charges, and posing the allegations as open questions, the president leaned on the caps key and wrote: “HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT? WHY DID HE ACCEPT THAT MONEY IF HE IS SUCH A FAN OF HERS? ISN’T THAT A MAJOR AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION? WHAT ABOUT BEYONCÉ? … AND HOW MUCH WENT TO OPRAH, AND BONO??? I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter.”
He continued, “Candidates aren’t allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, under the guise of paying for entertainment. In addition, this was a very expensive and desperate effort to artificially build up her sparse crowds. IT’S NOT LEGAL! For these unpatriotic ‘entertainers,’ this was just a CORRUPT & UNLAWFUL way to capitalize on a broken system. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!”
He went on to single out Beyoncé some more, repeating an allegation — popularized by right-wing influencer Candace Owen, again, with no evidence — that the superstar singer was paid an eight-figure sum to briefly show up at a Houston rally for Harris last fall. Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, refuted the charge at the time as being completely fabricated.
“According to news reports,” Trump wrote Monday morning — citing no news reports — “Beyoncé was paid $11,000,000 to walk onto a stage, quickly ENDORSE KAMALA, and walk off to loud booing for never having performed, NOT EVEN ONE SONG! Remember, the Democrats and Kamala illegally paid her millions of Dollars for doing nothing other than giving Kamala a full throated ENDORSEMENT. THIS IS AN ILLEGAL ELECTION SCAM AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL! IT IS AN ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION! BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, OPRAH, BONO AND, PERHAPS, MANY OTHERS, HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO!!!”
Trump offered no evidence Springsteen was paid anything in asking “how much” Harris paid for his support, which previously had not even come up much as a rumor or conspiracy theory. As for the Beyoncé charge, when right-wing personalities began to float the idea that the singer was paid to stump for Harris last year, Tina Knowles said, “The lie is that Beyoncé was paid $10 million to speak at a rally in Houston for Vice President Kamala Harris. In fact, Beyoncé did not receive a penny. She actually paid for her own flights for herself and her team, as well as all glam expenses”,
The president’s initial tirades were set off by Springsteen appearing on stage in Manchester, England last week and saying, “In my home, the America I love… is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.” The singer gave a very similar speech at the second stop on his U.K. tour and seems likely to be offering a variation on it every night.
Trump’s initial response to that was to issue a vague threat against the rocker, writing: “This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just ‘standard fare.’ Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!” Trump also called Springsteen “not a talented guy.”
Last week, the president also issued a statement claiming Taylor Swift, arguably the biggest star in the world at present, was no longer “hot” after she came out with her support for Harris. In his latest fusillades, he refrained from suggesting that Swift, too, should face a criminal investigation, although, of course, it may still be early in this particular ragefest.
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