Bruce Springsteen took a jab at President Donald Trump for his handling of the coronavirus as well as his refusal to wear a mask.
The singer shared an audio clip from his SiriusXM show “From My Home to Yours” in which he explained that he originally planned to devote the episode of the biweekly program to songs that celebrate the summer. However, he said that the mounting death toll caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the administration’s handling of it made him rethink that decision.
“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,” he says in the clip shared to Twitter. “Those lives deserve better than just being inconvenient statistics for our president’s reelection efforts. It’s a national disgrace.”
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The “Dancing in the Dark” singer then explained that the show would be devoted to remembering those who have been affected by the worldwide pandemic.
“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,” he said. “We will be calculating what we’ve lost, sending prayers for the deceased and the families they have left behind.”
He ended his introduction to the episode by taking a jab directly at Trump, without ever mentioning him by name.
“So, if you are ready for a rock & roll requiem, stay tuned. I’m going to start out by sending one to the man sitting behind the resolute desk,” he said. “With all respect, sir, show some consideration and care for your countrymen and your country. Put on a f---ing mask.”
[WARNING: The video below contains graphic language.]
According to Rolling Stone, Springsteen spent the rest of the episode playing somber, mournful songs like Neil Young’s “When God Made Me” and the Sensational Nightingales’ “Burying Ground” between bouts of reading the names of people that have died from the coronavirus, mixing everyday citizens with more famous names like John Prine and Adam Schlesinger.
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“One of the most heartrending aspects of these deaths is that the virus has stolen from us our rituals, our funerals, our wakes, our house meetings with family after the burial,” he said. “Our ability to stand by our loved ones, to touch them, to kiss them as they pass, to look into their eyes and let them physically know how we love them. This is the cruelty of this disease. To say our last goodbyes to our loved ones by phone and then to return home alone to an empty house. It is a heartbreaking and lonely death for those afflicted and for those left behind to pick up the pieces.”
The singer reportedly went on to highlight the bravery of health care workers who are still battling the COVID-19 pandemic and he encouraged people to vote in the upcoming 2020 presidential election.
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“Vote. God help us all. Vote before it’s too late.”
As of Tuesday morning, the novel coronavirus has infected more than 8,051,732 people across 188 countries and territories, resulting in more than 437,266 deaths. In the U.S., all 50 states plus the District of Columbia have reported confirmed cases of COVID-19, tallying more than 2,114,026 illnesses and at least 116,127 deaths.