Bruce Springsteen didn’t mince words when criticizing Donald Trump on his SiriusXM show. The June 17 episode of From My Home to Yours was supposed to be devoted to summer songs, but The Boss switched gears to tell the president to “put on a f**king mask.” Springsteen, 70, asked his fans to pray for the grieving families affected by coronavirus, and shamed Trump for his response to the crisis. Listen to Springsteen’s speech in the video above.
“With 100,000 plus Americans dying over the last few months and the empty, shamed response from our leaders, I’ve been simply pissed off,” Springsteen said at the top of the show. “Those lives deserve better than being simply inconvenient statistics for our president’s reelection efforts. It’s a national disgrace. Instead of celebrating the joys of summer today, we will be contemplating our current circumstances with the coronavirus and the cost it has drawn from our nation.”
“We will be calculating what we’ve lost, sending prayers for the deceased and the families they have left behind,” Springsteen continued, before telling his fans to stay tuned for “a rock & roll requiem.” Springsteen, a vocal Trump critic, then focused on the president: “With all respect, sir, show some consideration and care for your countrymen and your country,” he said. “Put on a f**king mask.”
Trump has refused to wear a protective face mask during the entire coronavirus pandemic, even after the CDC recommended that everyone should do so while out in public. First Lady Melania Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have followed Trump’s lead and declined protective gear, as well. This is despite multiple White House staffers testing positive for COVID-19. Springsteen, obviously, is from New Jersey, where 167,000 have contracted the virus, and 12,676 died from it.
He ended his speech by dedicating Bob Dylan‘s song “Disease of Conceit” to Trump. Springsteen spent the rest of the show playing emotional, mournful songs, while naming some of the over 119,000 people who have died of coronavirus in the United States. He ended the episode by playing a cover of Johnny Cash‘s “The Man Comes Around”. “He is warning us that Judgment Day is coming,” Springsteen said. “The election is only months away. Vote. God help us all. Vote before it’s too late.”