Tensions mount between 'dried out prune' Springsteen and Trump

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Bruce Springsteen and Donald Trump aren’t taking any days off when it comes to insulting one another.

The war of words between Springsteen and Trump is escalating with the Born in the U.S.A. hitmaker repeating his criticism of the president while on tour in Europe

After Springsteen called Trump “unfit” for office during a show in Manchester, England, the president fired back in a Truth Social post in which he called the 20-time Grammy winner “a pushy, obnoxious JERK.”

Undeterred, Springsteen echoed his criticism of Trump Saturday night saying America “is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.”

But in a social media post Monday, Trump ratcheted up their feud hinting that Springsteen and other high-profile stars were part of an “illegal election scam” orchestrated by his political rival Kamala Harris.

“HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT? 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??? I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter,” Trump wrote.

The president charged that candidates “aren’t allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did.”

“This was a very expensive and desperate effort to artificially build up her sparse crowds,” he continued. “IT’S NOT LEGAL! For these unpatriotic ‘entertainers,’ this was just a CORRUPT & UNLAWFUL way to capitalize on a broken system. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!”

In a follow-up post, Trump doubled down on his claims the stars were paid off. “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 without evidence. “Remember, the Democrats and Kamala illegally paid her millions of Dollars for doing nothing other than giving Kamala a full throated ENDORSEMENT. 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!!!”

According to Newsweek, records from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) do not show an $11 million payment from the Harris campaign to Beyoncé. The singer’s mother, Tina Knowles, also shot down rumours that her daughter was paid by Harris’ team.

“The lie is that Beyoncé was paid $10 million to speak at a rally in Houston for Vice President Kamala Harris. In fact, Beyoncé did not receive a penny. She actually paid for her own flights for herself and her team, as well as all glam expenses,” she said, according to Variety.

But Harris blew more than $1 billion during her 15-week campaign, which she launched after Joe Biden dropped his 2024 re-election bid.

According to Politico her run was at least $20 million in debt and Trump jokingly offered to help the Democrats through their “difficult period” after the election.

“I am very surprised that the Democrats, who fought a hard and valiant … raising a record amount of money, didn’t have lots of $’s left over,” Trump jeered. “Now they are being squeezed by vendors and others.

“Whatever we can do to help them during this difficult period, I would strongly recommend we, as a Party and for the sake of desperately needed UNITY, do.” 

But despite Trump’s resounding re-election, Springsteen has kept up his attack on the president accusing his administration of “abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom.” 

Trump’s threats to investigate Springsteen come just days after he called the rocker a “dried out prune” who “ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT.”

The same day that he lashed out at Springsteen, Trump also blasted Taylor Swift, declaring the pop star is “no longer ‘HOT’” following her endorsement of Harris.

“Has anyone noticed that, since I said ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,’ she’s no longer ‘HOT?’” Trump asked his 9.78 million followers on Truth Social.

mdaniell@postmedia.com