Bruce Springsteen wrapped his anti-Trump politics in patriotism, arguing that criticizing the country is part of loving it.
The 76-year-old rocker made the case during the PBS special “Bruce Springsteen: Finding America in Song,” after PBS NewsHour asked how his belief that loving America means telling the truth about it had shaped his work.
Springsteen’s answer was built around what he called “critical patriotism.”
“I believe in critical patriotism,” Springsteen said. “I believe that’s the definition of a patriot, you know?”
“That you love your country so much, that you are willing to look at it clearly, recognize its faults, encourage it to be a better place, and believe that you carry in your heart the country that is waiting,” he added.
The same PBS interview moved from patriotism to “Streets of Minneapolis,” the protest song Springsteen wrote after the fatal shootings of ICE agitators Renee Good and Alex Pretti, then later performed at a “No Kings” rally.
Springsteen described the song as a break from his usual approach.
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“I was very angry,” he said. “And usually, I write songs that have a lot of political implications, but very often are not directly political.”
Tom Morello, the Rage Against the Machine guitarist, became Springsteen’s permission slip to drop the subtlety.
“In this case, I wrote a protest song,” Springsteen said. “I thought, ‘Gee, maybe this is a little broad,’ you know?”
“But then I had my buddy Tom Morello, from Rage Against the Machine, and he says, ‘No, no, no, Bruce, nuance is great, but, sometimes, you gotta kick ’em in the teeth,’”
The far-left singer described the track as a fast reaction to a specific political moment.
“And, so, that was a moment when you had to kick ’em in the teeth,” Springsteen said. “It was a song written for a moment. I wrote it, recorded it, released it in three days. It’s a song of its times.”
Springsteen had recently wrapped his anti-Trump “Land of Hope and Dreams American” tour.
For White House reaction, Fox News was directed to Trump’s April Truth Social attack.
“Bad, and very boring singer, Bruce Springsteen, who looks like a dried up prune who has suffered greatly from the work of a really bad plastic surgeon, has long had a horrible and incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, sometimes referred to as TDS,” the president wrote.
“The guy is a total loser who spews hate against a President who won a Landslide Election, including the popular vote, all Seven Swing States, and 86% of the Counties across America,” Trump wrote at the time.
“Under Sleepy Joe and the Dems, our Country was DEAD, and now we have the “hottest” Country, by far, anywhere in the World. MAGA SHOULD BOYCOTT HIS OVERPRICED CONCERTS, WHICH SUCK. SAVE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY. AMERICA IS BACK!!! President DJT.”
The anniversary messaging also pulled in Alicia Keys, who used a social media video to argue that women still lack an explicit constitutional guarantee of equal rights.
The “Girl on Fire” singer built the video around the Equal Rights Amendment, the country’s 250th anniversary and her claim that women in the United States still do not have “equal rights.”
“Did you know that it’s been 100 years since the equal rights amendment was first introduced? And now, still, women don’t have an explicit guarantee to equal rights under the U.S. Constitution,” Keys said.
Alicia Keys says women don’t have “equal rights” in the U.S. on America’s 250th Birthday.
“Women are not asking for special rights, just equal rights. Let’s turn outrage into authorship. If it’s the 250th celebration of the country isn’t it time to update some things?” pic.twitter.com/XMVK81gsVI
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) July 5, 2026
“Can you believe that? I couldn’t even believe that was real,” she added. “Women are not asking for special rights, just equal rights.”
The “Fallin’” singer then turned the anniversary into a prompt for constitutional change.
“Let’s turn outrage into authorship. If it’s the 250th celebration of the country, isn’t it time to update some things?” Keys said.
She asked viewers, “What rights or guarantees do you feel all women should have in America?” then added, “That’s a good question,” without appearing to answer it herself.
The video eventually revealed itself as an advertisement for an initiative called “People’s Bill of Rights 250.”
“I’m not here to speak for you, I just want to pass you the mic, to have your say at People’s Bill of Rights 250 dot org,” Keys said.
According to its website, People’s Bill of Rights 250 “exists to ask the American People fundamental questions about freedom, power, and responsibility before anyone else writes the answers.”
Sammy Hagar faced the opposite problem after critics accused his planned Freedom 250 performance in Washington D.C. of aligning him with the Trump administration.
The ex-Van Halen frontman had been set as a surprise performer at the Trump White House-backed Independence Day event before thunderstorms and rain forced an evacuation and cut the festivities short.
Ultimate Classic Rock reported that some social media users accused the “I Can’t Drive 55” hitmaker of aligning himself with the Trump administration after news of the planned appearance spread.
Sammy Hagar fired back after fans slammed his Freedom 250 involvement: "This is not a political thing. This is the celebration of our country's birthday no matter who the president is." His surprise July 4th set in D.C. was rained out. pic.twitter.com/SeIIY1OzNt
— Rock Feed 🎸 (@RockFeedNet) July 6, 2026
The backlash picked up after Hagar posted a July 2 video from his Freedom 250 rehearsal.
“Anyone who is associated with this fiasco is not someone that I can support. I am very very disappointed in the choice you made,” one commenter posted.
Hagar pushed back in the comments on his own post and insisted the celebration was not about politics.
“This is not a political thing!” Hagar wrote. “This is the celebration of our country’s birthday no matter who the president is at this time. I sincerely can’t understand why anyone would have a problem with this.”
When the rainout ended his surprise appearance, Hagar showed followers the handwritten remarks he never got to deliver.
“Right now we are celebrating our countrys [sic] 250th birthday and right now would be a good time to reunite this country,” the he wrote.