President Donald Trump didn’t take too kindly to Bruce Springsteen’s new anti-ICE protest song on Thursday, flaming “Streets of Minneapolis” through a White House spokesperson as “random,” “inaccurate” and “irrelevant” hours after the music legend dropped a music video highlighting violent protests in the city.
“The Trump Administration is focused on encouraging state and local Democrats to work with federal law enforcement officers on removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens from their communities — not random songs with irrelevant opinions and inaccurate information,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to TheWrap.
Jackson also derided the media for covering the matter, saying it should instead report on “how Democrats have refused to work with the administration, and instead, opted to provide sanctuary for these criminal illegals.”
Springsteen released the new song, titled “Streets of Minneapolis,” on Wednesday. In it, the “Born in the U.S.A.” songwriter calls out “King Trump’s private army” and pays tribute to Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the two Minneapolis residents killed by ICE agents this month while protesting the immigration enforcement agency’s occupation of the city.
On Thursday, Springsteen shared the music video for the protest single, directed by Thom Zimny. The video spot highlights stock footage of memorials for Good and Pretti, as well as the physical brutality protesters and even journalists have faced while peacefully demonstrating against ICE in Minneapolis since they were deployed earlier this year.
“I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis,” Springsteen wrote in a statement released in conjunction with the song. “It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free, Bruce Springsteen.”
The song is classic Springsteen. What begins as a simple acoustic arrangement eventually transforms into a full-band anthem complete with backup vocals, harmonies and chants of “ICE out now.”
“Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice / Crying through the bloody mist,” the musician sings in one of the song’s choruses. “We’ll remember the names of those who died / On the streets of Minneapolis.”
