The POTUS v. The Boss: Trump calls for investigation of Springsteen, celeb endorsements
Not President Donald Trump. The Republican is calling for an investigation of Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, and other celebs who endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris' failed 2024 White House bid.
'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???' Trump thundered in a 1:34 a.m. post to his Truth Social network on Monday morning.
But it didn't end there.
'I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter. Candidates aren't allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, under the guise of paying for entertainment,' Trump continued, using CAPS-LOCK a tad more sparingly. 'In addition, this was a very expensive and desperate effort to artificially build up her sparse crowds. 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!!!'
The post came days after Trump took a swipe at Springsteen, denouncing him as a 'dried out prune of a rocker,' in revenge for some pointed remarks the Rock Hall of Famer made from the stage in the United Kingdom.
Harris received a steady stream of celebrity endorsements last year, Politico reported Monday.
Beyoncé spoke at a rally in Houston along with former Destiny's Child bandmate Kelly Rowland, the online news org reported. But she did not perform.
Winfrey, meanwhile, hosted a live-streamed town hall near Detroit, Politico reported. There were false reports that the stars were paid in exchange for their support -- which were quickly shot down, Politico further reported.
Still, Harris's campaign did pay Beyoncé's production company $165,000. And it gave $1 million to Harpo Productions, Winfrey's company, Politico reported, citing campaign finance records.
Winfrey addressed the criticism in a social media post, saying she did not receive 'any personal fee,' according to Politico.
Springsteen, meanwhile, appeared undeterred by any criticism from the White House.
Over the weekend, he dedicated a song to the 'Dear Leader,' a reference to the title used for former North Korean strongman Kim Jong Il, The Wall Street Journal reported.
And in an opinion piece for MSNBC, columnist Jeff Slate suggested only one person is benefiting from the Trump-Springsteen feud. And it's not the guy who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
'Sometimes entertaining and sometimes ominous, the mini-feud pits two septuagenarians against each other in the least surprising way possible. And while unlikely to move the needle in 2028, the fact that Trump gave in to his boorish impulses is ultimately mostly just a personal gift to the Boss,' Slate wrote.
For his part, Springsteen ducked any questions about Trump as he signed autographs for fans. He just chuckled when he was asked if he had a message for the president, Fox News reported.
Meet the Mass. lawmaker marshaling the resistance to Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Worcester councilor slams ICE protesters, says they should have helped children
Senator asks if Trump got 'gold-plated helicopter' from cartel family he let in country
Trump ally says Biden is 'not going to recover' after cancer diagnosis
Trump's attacks on Mass. hit economy in 'the gut,' Greater Boston Chamber boss says
Read the original article on MassLive.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
26 minutes ago
- NBC News
U.S. trans woman challenges Dutch asylum rejection
AMSTERDAM — A 28-year-old transgender woman from the U.S. began a legal challenge on Wednesday to the rejection of her asylum application in the Netherlands where she had sought political asylum saying she no longer felt safe in the United States. Veronica Clifford-Carlos, a visual artist from California, came to the Netherlands — the first country to legalize same-sex marriage and known for its strong protections of LGBTQ rights — because the Trump administration's policies towards transgender people made her feel unsafe, her lawyer's office said. The case, the first of its kind in the Netherlands, will be heard in a court in Amsterdam starting Wednesday, with a ruling expected in four to six weeks. Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has issued executive orders limiting transgender rights, banned transgender people from serving in the armed forces, and rescinded anti-discrimination policies for LGBTQ people. Dutch advocacy group LGBT Asylum Support, which backs the lawsuit, is currently assisting around 20 U.S. trans individuals with pending asylum claims. According to data from the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), 29 Americans applied for asylum in the Netherlands during the first half of this year. In previous years there were between nine and 18 applicants per year, an IND spokesperson said. 'The IND generally states that discrimination by authorities and fellow citizens can be considered an act of persecution if it is so severe that victims can no longer function socially and societally,' LGBT Asylum Support said in a statement. 'But the IND maintains that there are no grounds for exceptional treatment of transgender and queer refugees from the U.S.'
The Hill
27 minutes ago
- The Hill
Almost 6 in 10 say UN members should recognize Palestinian state: Survey
Nearly 6 in 10 Americans said that the United Nations (U.N.) countries should recognize the Palestinian state, according to a new survey that was published on Wednesday morning. The new Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 58 percent of U.S. adults think that every country in the U.N. should recognize Palestine as a nation. About a third of respondents, 33 percent, disagreed, while another 9 percent didn't answer when asked. The survey comes as the United Kingdom, France and Canada — all close U.S. allies — have recently expressed their intentions to recognize the Palestinian state. In late July, when asked about UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's intention, President Trump said he had 'no view on that.' The president said French President Emmanuel Macron's decision was not 'going to change anything.' The decisions from all three nations come as Israel is facing international pressure over the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, with starvation spreading and some aid organizations warning that Palestinians are on the brink of famine. Israel has denied the accusation of facilitating the growing hunger in the war-torn enclave, stating that the Palestinian militant group Hamas is stealing humanitarian aid. Hamas, designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S., has denied the accusation by Israel. The majority of Americans in the survey, 65 percent, said that the Trump administration should spring into action to aid Palestinians when it comes to food delivery. About 28 percent disagreed, including 41 percent of Trump-aligned GOP voters. Nearly 6 in 10 Americans, 59 percent, argued that the Israeli military's actions in Gaza, which kicked off following Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, have been excessive. About a third, 33 percent, disagreed, according to the poll. In February last year, 53 percent of Americans said Israeli military response in the enclave was excessive, while 42 percent said otherwise. The survey was conducted from Aug. 13-18 among 4,446 U.S. adults. The margin of error was around 2 percentage points.
The Hill
27 minutes ago
- The Hill
The news media has lost control
It has been said that journalists provide the conversation of democracy. That old adage is losing steam in this era, however, as the news agenda for the nation's rhetorical sphere is increasingly being framed by many and varied new voices. For decades, the journalism establishment exercised great power in deciding the topics and issues that Americans reflected over at the kitchen table or water cooler, and eventually at the voting booth. 'The news' was what primary gatekeepers such as The Associated Press, The New York Times and CBS said was news. Americans assumed that journalists brought particular and professional expertise to the agenda-setting function. Citizens also believed these reporters were representative of the nation's population, and therefore committed to creating a sensible, fair and wide-ranging news marketplace. News consumers respected journalists and trusted that the news industry was trying to serve a greater societal purpose. Long-time and legendary CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite was once widely considered the most trusted person in the nation. But the media establishment has largely squandered this lofty role and lost the confidence of news consumers. The news agenda has become infected with activism, hyperpartisanship and, at times, superficiality. The AllSides Media Bias Chart tracks the ideological leanings of a wide range of news outlets. Precious few achieve a centrist rating. Some receive a 'leans right' label, but most establishment news outlets receive a 'leans left.' Credibility ratings for the journalism industry have suffered as a result, and news consumers are looking elsewhere for information. Perhaps even worse, some citizens are just becoming news bystanders who no longer care about being informed. This void is being increasingly filled by all kinds of other voices, including podcasters, bloggers, social media provocateurs and even fringe, bombastic miscreants. On one level, this could actually be considered a good development. It is certainly the American way that everybody gets to have their say. The constitutional framers, indeed, intended that free press and free speech rights applied broadly to the wise and even the less than wise. The marketplace of news content need not be left any more to the machinations of a handful of elite, detached editors and producers in corporate media towers. The warping of the news agenda by supposedly professional journalists no doubt opened the door for the other players to emerge. And the old-time media have not yet figured out that squeezing the agenda won't work in the wide-open marketplace of the internet. The major broadcast networks provided minimal coverage last month of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's press briefing about a possible role of the Obama administration in the Trump-Russia collusion hoax. CNN dumped out of its coverage with a correspondent questioning whether the story deserved any time at all. Gabbard's comments deserved to be scrutinized, of course, but a DNI's pointed remarks are news. However, there are risks associated with having the nation's news agenda set by the rough and tumble atmosphere of social media, podcasters, influencers and zany characters. These actors are often more interested in buzz and vibe than deliberation and rational thinking. And now, in turn, traditional media cruise the internet looking for 'news,' trying to capitalize on the buzz of alternative agenda setters. There is little other way to explain the Coldplay concert couple or Sydney Sweeney's advertisement. And who would have figured a time when a key factor in a presidential election was which candidate did or did not go on Joe Rogan's podcast? Establishment journalism being influenced by the grassroots surely indicates a surrender by the news industry of its long-established responsibility to set an agenda of substance. Perhaps G.K. Chesterton had it right a hundred years ago when he mused, 'I am a journalist and so am vastly ignorant of many things, but because I am a journalist, I write and talk about them all.' But there should still be a key role for professional agenda-setters even in today's cluttered public sphere. Democracy and rational decision-making need an agenda based on deliberate and measured judgement, rather than chasing buzz and vibe. Professional editors and producers owe the nation a national dialogue based on relevance, high impact and perspective. A nation distracted by a shrill and superficial news agenda is unable to effectively address the serious challenges the nation faces.
