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For somebody who won the 2024 election handsomely – “including all seven swing states”, as he likes to remind us – Donald Trump certainly acts like a sore loser.
In recent days, the world’s most powerful man has refreshed his obsession with American celebrities who endorsed his opponent Kamala Harris, including a middle-of-the-night rant in which he threatened Bruce Springsteen and others with federal investigation.
Donald Trump has raged at megastar singers Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift for endorsing Kamala Harris.Credit: Photos: AP, Getty Images. Digital image: Stephen Kiprillis
“How much did Kamala Harris pay Bruce Springsteen for his poor performance during her campaign for president?” Trump posted on TruthSocial at 1.34am on Monday, US time, in all-caps.
“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???”
If only that were the end of it. But later that morning, Trump woke with mega-star Beyoncé still on the brain.
“According to 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!” he wrote.
President Donald Trump has posted late-night rants on TruthSocial about Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift.Credit: AP
In all-caps, Trump went on: “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!!!”
Geez. As Taylor Swift might say, you need to calm down.
Although many fans were disappointed Beyoncé didn’t sing at Harris’ Houston rally in October, there is no evidence she was paid $US11 million ($17 million) to appear. At the time, her mother, Tina Knowles, denounced claims her daughter was paid for the endorsement as “fake news” and a “lie”.
“Beyoncé did not receive a penny,” Knowles said. “She actually paid for her own flights for her and her team.”
Beyoncé headlined a Kamala Harris rally in Houston, Texas, in October last year.Credit: AP
Trump has been raging about celebrities for days. As he left the Middle East last week, he mused: “Has anyone noticed that, since I said ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,’ she’s no longer ‘HOT?’”
Rather than a reflection on Swift’s appearance (which is unchanged since the election), Trump was referring to how her political views may have affected her popularity, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
But the music icon who really seems to be grinding Trump’s gears of late is New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen, who opened his tour in Britain last week by condemning the Trump administration for suppressing dissent and free speech, rolling back civil rights laws and “siding with dictators” over American allies.
News of the slight quickly reached the president, who responded in characteristically adult fashion, branding Springsteen “a pushy, obnoxious JERK”, “dumb as a rock”, and a “dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker” with atrophied skin.
Bruce Springsteen criticised the Trump administration on the first night of his European tour in Manchester, England.Credit: Getty Images
“Never liked him, never liked his music,” Trump said of the Boss, as if we thought he was secretly rocking out to Thunder Road until last week.
Springsteen’s sin, in Trump’s telling, was to badmouth the commander-in-chief while on tour overseas. For the president, making a few choice observations about politics to a crowd of Manchester Baby Boomers is tantamount to treason. But accepting a free, $US400 million luxury jet from Qatar, state sponsors of terrorism – well, that’s just a good deal.
While we’re painfully aware that Trump takes everything personally, and rarely has a thought he does not say out loud, there is a touch of genuine sadness to this entire display. It has the ring of the schoolyard bully who just wants to be liked by the cool kids.
The musical stars of Trump’s inauguration were country singer Carrie Underwood and ’70s act Village People, whose period in the public consciousness Trump has single-handedly revived. No shade on them, but the cool kids they ain’t.
So bring on the investigation. But, having been to a few Springsteen shows over the years, I can probably save you some time, Donald: he was never going to be your friend.
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