Bruce Springsteen shrugs off ‘blowback’ over anti-Trump, anti-ICE rhetoric: ‘I don’t worry about it’

ST PAUL, MINNESOTA: With a “No Kings” rally in St. Paul on deck this weekend, Rock legend Bruce Springsteen has no plans to dial down his political rhetoric.

Speaking to the Minnesota Star Tribune on Wednesday, Springsteen suggested his latest efforts were less of a detour and more of a calling.

Bruce Springsteen says ‘No Kings’ moment demands action

“You want to try to meet the moment,” he told the outlet. “The No Kings movement is of great import right now. When you have the opportunity to sing something where the timing is essential, and if you have something powerful to sing, it elevates the moment, it elevates your job to another level. And I’m always in search of that.”

The rally will double as a launchpad for his 20-day “Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour,” kicking off March 31 in Minneapolis.

The tour arrives on the heels of his latest track, “Streets of Minneapolis,” a protest song aimed at President Donald Trump and his administration’s decision to deploy thousands of federal agents to crack down on illegal immigration in the state.

Springsteen invoked a line from fellow rocker Tom Morello, “Nuance is wonderful, and sometimes you have to kick them in the teeth.”

That philosophy seems to guide his current run. Also, he's not losing sleep over critics. “I don’t worry about it. My job is very simple: I do what I want to do, I say what I want to say, and then people get to say what they want to say about it,” Springsteen said.

“Those are the rules of my game. That’s fine with me. I don’t worry about if you’re going to lose this part of your audience. I’ve always had a feeling about the position we play culturally, and I’m still deeply committed to that idea of the band. The blowback is just part of it. I’m ready for all that, ” he added.

Springsteen compares tcurrent climate to 1968

Springsteen also cast the current political climate as a tipping point.

“I don’t know of another time when the country has been as critically challenged and our basic ideas and values as critically challenged as they are right now,” he said.

“I’d have to go back to 1968 when I was 18 years old to another moment when it felt like the country was so on edge and like it felt there was simply so much at stake as far as who we are and the country we want to be and the people we want to be. It’s a critical, critical moment,” Springsteen added.

Following the January death of Renee Good, Springsteen has repeatedly taken aim at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even telling agents in Minneapolis to “get out” of the city during a concert earlier this year.

"If you believe in democracy, in liberty, if you believe that truth still matters, that it’s worth speaking out, that it is worth fighting for, if you believe in the power of the law and no one stands above it, if you stand against heavily armed masked federal troops invading American cities and using Gestapo tactics against our fellow citizens, if you believe you don’t deserve to be murdered for exercising your American right to protest, then send a message to this president,” Springsteen told a crowd.

“And as the mayor of that city has said, ‘ICE should get the f*** out of Minneapolis,'” he added.