'The Republic Is Under Siege by a Moron, Basically'
Rock icon Bruce Springsteen is calling Donald Trump a "moron," an "embarrassment" to America, and lamenting his "very dangerous ideas" supporting "white nationalism and the alt-right movement."
"The republic is under siege by a moron, basically. Without overstating it, it's a tragedy for our democracy," Springsteen tells Rolling Stone magazine.
"The ideas he's moving to the mainstream are all very dangerous ideas - white nationalism and the alt-right movement. The outrageous things that he's done - not immediately disavowing David Duke? These are things that are obviously beyond the pale for any previous political candidate. It would sink your candidacy immediately."
The 20-time Grammy Award winner chastised the Republican nominee's simplistic attempts to solve complex issues, like deindustrialization and globalization.
"I believe that there's a price being paid for not addressing the real cost of the deindustrialization and globalization that has occurred in the United States for the past 35, 40 years and how it's deeply affected people's lives and deeply hurt people to where they want someone who says they have a solution. And Trump's thing is simple answers to very complex problems. Fallacious answers to very complex problems."
Springsteen, who celebrated his 67th birthday Friday, also weighed in on Hillary Clinton, saying, "I like Hillary. I think she would be a very, very good president."
Happy birthday to the one and only, Bruce @Springsteen. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz. pic.twitter.com/HJHkSQCK4q
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) September 23, 2016
In a separate interview with "Skavlan," a talk show that airs in Norway and Sweden, Springsteen said of Trump's candidacy: "The absurdity is beyond cartoon-like. But he's gotten close enough [to the White House] so it can make you nervous."
"I don't think he's going to win, but even him running is a great embarrassment if you're an American," he added.
Springsteen also attributed Trump's rise to people who are "uncomfortable with the 'browning' of America."
"We have certain problems in the United States - tremendous inequality of wealth distribution. That makes for ripe ground for demagoguery," Springsteen said.
"He has a very simple answer to all these very, very complex problems."
Next week Springsteen's memoir, Born to Run will be released.
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Image by Shayne Kaye via Flickr and a CC license
Hat tip: The Guardian
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