Bruce Springsteen just told PBS that trashing the President of the United States makes him a patriot.
Now he's explaining why – from a PBS stage, no less – and the definition is something.
If you think that's a little convenient, wait until you hear it.
The New American Patriotism
"I believe in critical patriotism," Springsteen told PBS NewsHour this week. "I believe that's the definition of a patriot, you know?"
He went on to say that a true patriot "loves your country so much that you are willing to look at it clearly, recognize its faults, encourage it to be a better place…"
Here's what that looked like in practice.
In January, Springsteen wrote, recorded, and released "Streets of Minneapolis" in three days – a song calling Trump a "king," his DHS forces a "private army," and Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller liars.
He performed it at an anti-Trump "No Kings" rally.
He performed it on the last episode of Stephen Colbert's show.
He opened his entire 2026 tour in Minneapolis calling the Trump administration "corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless, and treasonous."
That's not patriotism.
That's a concert tour wearing a flag pin.
Springsteen also told PBS about taking advice from Tom Morello – the Rage Against the Machine guitarist – on how to approach the protest song.
Morello told him nuance is fine, but "sometimes you gotta kick 'em in the teeth."
So the man lecturing America about critical patriotism on taxpayer-funded PBS took his creative direction from a communist rocker who has spent decades calling for revolution against the American government.
The 40-Year Con
Springsteen has been running this "critical patriot" play since 1984.
That's when Ronald Reagan tried to use "Born in the U.S.A." as a campaign anthem – because the rousing chorus, the American flag imagery, and the working-class themes all screamed patriotic celebration.
Reagan's team didn't listen close enough.
The song is actually a bitter protest about how America abandoned Vietnam veterans.
Springsteen was furious.
He called out Reagan from the stage.
He later said Republicans had "mastered the art of co-opting anything and everything that seemed fundamentally American."
Now he's doing the same thing in reverse.
He's taking the flag, the working-class mythology, the heartland imagery – and using all of it to call the sitting President of the United States a king and his federal agents a private army.
The DHS didn't miss what Springsteen was doing.
Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin fired back directly: "We eagerly await Mr. Springsteen's songs dedicated to the thousands of American citizens killed by criminal illegal aliens."
She added the obvious truth Springsteen won't write a song about: "Every day, the brave men and women of ICE are saving lives by arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens, including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, drug dealers, gang members, and terrorists."
The $800-Ticket Patriot
The man who built a career on working-class mythology charged fans $800 a ticket to attend what amounted to a four-hour anti-Trump political rally.
And his own original drummer called him out for it.
https://twitter.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/2074132379090706512?s=20
Vini Lopez played on Springsteen's first two albums and helped build the E Street Band from nothing.
When the 2026 tour launched, he went public.
"You gotta have respect for the president," Lopez said. "Trump is the president of the United States – everyone should have respect for him."
Fox News contributor Joe Concha called it what it was – a "jungle land of hypocrisy" from a millionaire rock star turning concert stages into political pulpits while fans who came for "Born to Run" got a rally instead.
"Critical patriotism" is a nice phrase.
It should mean something. It shouldn't mean calling the men and women enforcing your country's laws a private army because you disagree with the laws they're enforcing – and then taking a curtain call on PBS for the privilege.
Sources:
- Alana Mastrangelo, "Bruce Springsteen Declares Himself a 'Patriot' for Trashing Trump: 'I Believe in Critical Patriotism,'" Breitbart, July 6, 2026.
- "Bruce Springsteen's former drummer pushes back on the Boss's political attacks on Trump: 'Gotta have respect,'" Fox News, April 12, 2026.
- Tricia McLaughlin, DHS Spokesperson Statement on Springsteen protest song, quoted in NBC News, January 30, 2026.
- "5 Times Bruce Springsteen Has Blasted Trump," Newsweek, May 29, 2026.
