President Donald Trump’s sinister attack on singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen on Saturday morning marks an escalation in his drive to intimidate artists and silence dissent against his fascist policies. The tirade, delivered through Truth Social, was a response to Springsteen’s public denunciation of the Trump administration May 14 from the concert stage in Manchester, England. The performer referred to the Trump government as “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous.”

On Friday morning, in his typically incoherent, stupid and vicious manner, Trump lashed out in a post, maintaining that Springsteen was “highly overrated” as an artist. He termed him a “pushy, obnoxious jerk,” and told him to “keep his mouth shut until he gets back into the country … then we’ll see how it goes for him.” Trump’s incitement of his fascist followers against Springsteen, including the implicit threat of physical attack, could not be clearer.

Springsteen, who does not generally introduce political commentary into his concerts, gave his prepared remarks during the opening show of his “Land of Hope and Dreams” tour in Manchester. Addressing the crowd, Springsteen declared:

The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ‘n’ roll in dangerous times. In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration. Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism, and let freedom ring!

He continued,

In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. This is happening now. In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers. They’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that has led to a more just and plural society.

In another segment of his remarks, Springsteen condemned the US political system for its complicity and inaction:

A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. They have no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American. They are punishing individuals for exercising their right to free speech and expressing their dissent.

He went on:

They are reversing landmark Civil Rights laws that contributed to a more equitable and diverse society. They are abandoning our esteemed allies and aligning with dictators against those striving for their liberty. They are cutting funds to American universities that resist their ideological pressures. They are removing individuals from American streets and, without legal process, deporting them to foreign detention facilities.

Springsteen concluded with, “The America I have sung about for five decades is genuine, and despite its flaws, it is a magnificent country inhabited by wonderful people. Therefore, we will endure this moment.”

On his second night in Manchester, Springsteen was not intimidated by Trump’s tirade and once again delivered his 3-minute speech against “an unfit president and a rogue government.” Springsteen also said, “Things are happening right now that are altering the very nature of our country’s democracy, and they’re too important to ignore.”

Springsteen is not alone. Other artists have condemned Trump’s politics and his attacks on democracy. Popular music figures like Taylor Swift, John Legend and others have denounced Trump’s policies in the past, warning of their authoritarian and anti-democratic implications. These public statements have often highlighted the dangers of using the presidency to threaten or silence dissenting voices in the arts and beyond.

Swift wrote, “We are seeing the President of the United States openly threaten those who disagree with him. This is not leadership; this is the language of authoritarianism.” Legend stated, “When you use the power of the presidency to silence critics and punish those who speak out, you are attacking the very foundation of democracy.”

Trump’s attack on Springsteen is part of a broader campaign of threats and actions against those who oppose him. The White House has illegally arrested students who have spoken out against the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza. Mahmoud Khalil, a Green Card holder, was seized at his residence in New York City and remains in a detention at a facility in Louisiana against his basic rights. Other students, such as Rümeysa Öztürk of Tufts University and Mohsen Mahdawi of Columbia University, were detained but then released after judges ruled that their detainment and threatened expulsion were illegal.

The Trump administration has repeatedly threatened to arrest, expel, or imprison so-called “home-grown” opposition who dare to exercise their First Amendment rights. He has called for the removal of protesters from public spaces, threatened legal action against lawmakers and universities critical of his regime, and sought to cut federal funding for institutions that do not align with his right-wing agenda.

First Amendment advocates have described this as the most significant assault on free speech in modern US history, noting that the right to express oneself is being violated because Trump has declared doing so requires approval by the White House.

Trump’s campaign against dissent has been extended into the cultural sphere by manipulating federal funding and oversight of museums, monuments and public art. The would-be dictator is seeking to enforce his extreme nationalist and fascist ideology and suppress any expression that challenges it.

Political censorship and the attempt to suppress artistic criticism and opposition are hardly unknown in the US. This is the country, after all, of the Red Scare, the Hollywood blacklist and McCarthyism. Moreover, President Richard Nixon had his “enemies list,” which included actors Jane Fonda, Burt Lancaster, Steve McQueen, Gene Hackman, Paul Newman, Tony Randall and Gregory Peck. When singer-actress Eartha Kitt publicly criticized the Vietnam War at an event at the White House in 1968, she was blacklisted. But Trump’s filthy effort to incite his far-right thug supporters against Springsteen, one of the most popular performers in the world, is without precedent, a sign of the degeneracy and desperation of the ruling elite.

The nervous response to Springsteen must be seen in the context of an administration facing mounting crises of a legal, but more importantly political and social character. As the nature of the Trump administration is becoming clearer to wider sections of the population, including many of those who voted for him, his lashing out is becoming more unhinged. This is a regime that cannot tolerate any criticism whatsoever, especially from those that reach large audiences such as popular actors, musicians and other artists.

Trump’s incitement against Bruce Springsteen is a calculated attempt to intimidate those who dare to oppose him. It is part of a larger campaign to undermine free speech, manipulate culture, and overthrow the foundations of American democracy.

Meanwhile, as Springsteen and other artists have been speaking out, a growing movement against the Trump administration is emerging. This is shown by the demonstrations that took place in the US and around the world on both April 5 and April 19 as well as the growing strike wave of workers across multiple industries seeking the restoration of their basic rights, wage increases, increased benefits and improved working conditions.