Bruce Springsteen has made a powerful statement on stage following the assassination attempt made on Donald Trump, offering a “prayer of thanks” that no one was injured.
The President and the US rock icon have been involved in multiple heated disputes in recent years, each calling out the other publicly and using their social media platforms to speak out against the other’s political stance.
These have included Springsteen calling for the POTUS to be impeached and “consigned to the trash heap of history”, as well as describing the president as “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous”. Trump, meanwhile, has branded The Boss as a “pushy, obnoxious JERK” and a “dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker”.
Now, following an assassination attempt on the President, Springsteen has put their feud briefly to one side and shared his gratitude that no one was injured.
The incident took place at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night (March 25) and saw Trump – who has previously been the target of another assassination attempt – evacuated by Secret Service agents along with other senior members of the administration when an armed man charged into the premises.
Hundreds of guests reportedly hid under tables in the ballroom as agents with guns drawn rushed reporters out of the room and mentioned “shots fired”. One officer was shot but protected by his bulletproof vest (per The Independent). It was later confirmed that Trump had not been injured.
While on stage in Austin last night (Sunday April 26) as part of his ‘Land Of Hope And Dreams’ tour, Springsteen said that despite their differences, he would never wish harm on Trump nor any members of his administration.
“We can disagree. We can be critical of those in power, and we can peacefully fight for our beliefs, but there is no place in any way, shape, or form for political violence of any kind in our beloved United States,” he said, also offering a “prayer of thanks that our President, nor anyone in the administration, nor anyone attending, was injured” at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
The suspect arrested after the charging event attended by Trump over the weekend is reported to have been carrying a shotgun and handgun at the time, and understood to have been a guest in the Washington Hilton hotel where the dinner was being held.
Law enforcement officials have told The Associated Press that he faces two firearm-related charges, including a count of assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon.
Following the incident, the President posted pictures on his Truth Social platform of the alleged assailant handcuffed on the ground and vowed to reschedule the disrupted event at a late-night press conference following the shooting, which he claimed had “unified” political opponents and the media.
When Springsteen kicked off his current tour in Minneapolis on March 31, he used his first tour date to criticise Trump and the actions of ICE following the killing of two of the city’s citizens – Renee Good and Alex Pretti. He also claimed that US citizens were “living through some very dark times” as the “American values that have sustained us for 250 years are being challenged as never before.”
Before it even began, the tour sparked backlash from the White House, with Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung saying: “When this loser Springsteen comes back home to his own City of Ruins in his head, he’ll realise his Glory Days are behind him and his fans have left him Out in the Street, putting him in a Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out because he has a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his brain”.
Springsteen – who had previously endorsed the No Kings movement against Trump last October – then reaffirmed the tour was “going to be political” and confirmed that he was prepared for the “blowback”.
The shows see The Boss joined by Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello, and they have regularly been playing the new anti-Trump, anti-ICE protest song ‘Streets Of Minneapolis’.
Since shows began, Trump has pushed for MAGA to “boycott his overpriced concerts, which suck” and called the singer a “total loser”.
The tour is set to run up until a stop in Washington DC on May 27. See the full list of dates here and find any remaining tickets here.