When I endorsed Kamala Harris in 2024, it was with regret.
I was sorry to turn my back on my old friend Donald Trump, because he had been loyal and supportive. He was never perfect, but for all his flamboyance, he was straight-shooting and considerate. Let me give you a quick, silly example from my experience on Trump’s last season of Celebrity Apprentice.
It was 2015 and I had just lost to Leeza Gibbons, coming in second. As we waited on live TV for the dreaded, finger-pointing denunciation, “You’re Fired!” Trump instead turned to Leeza and said, “You’re hired!” thus sparing me the public humiliation that had made him famous.
Not a big deal, but a gesture of friendship. Yet, I didn’t vote for him in 2016 because my family convinced me that Hillary Clinton would be better for the country. Despite that huge deal, when I showed up at Trump Tower days later to congratulate him, he could not have been more gracious.
I supported Trump 45 against an array of enemies, and his presidency was not bad. He did okay on tariffs, China trade, the economy generally, all while being sabotaged by Democrats pushing the phony “Russia, Russia” nonsense.
I supported him against the Stormy Daniels persecution, the documents case, two impeachments, and applauded his “Operation Warp Speed,” which succeeded in getting an effective vaccine in record time, saving countless lives.
In 2020, I wanted him to win, but surrendered again to my Democratic wife and children, still not voting for him but writing in a nonsense candidate so my vote wouldn’t count.
When he called me at home on Nov. 13, 10 days after his 2020 election loss, I conveyed my honest sympathy. He asked me to investigate alleged voting irregularities. I told him I would, but never found anything substantive, and never spoke with him again because of what he did on Jan. 6, 2021, when he attempted the unconstitutional government takeover.
Since re-election in 2024, he has had an Emperor Nero vibe.
Anyone who crosses or insults him is vulnerable to Presidential outbursts conveyed at Oval Office press availabilities or diatribes on Truth Social. If he can rattle Harvard, no one is safe.
Trump 47 is more empowered and angrier than Trump 45. From Ukraine’s Zelenskyy to rocker Neil Young to Canada to Oprah to Beyoncé, no one is out of range. So here comes Bruce Springsteen, one of the few major public figures who has dared to speak out against Trump.
On a dramatically darkened stage before a sold-out crowd in Manchester, England, two weeks ago, introducing his newest rendition of the song “City of Ruin,” Bruce blasted the Trump Administration.
“In my home, the America I love, the America that I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous Administration.”
Harsh words directed at a President who is notoriously thin-skinned and quick to respond to insults.
True to form, Trump did. He called Springsteen a “dried out prune of a rocker,” then told him more ominously that he “ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT” until Bruce got home from his tour. “Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!”
Meaning what? That Trump’s going to have him scolded or beat up? What is this, high school?
For the record, I don’t think Trump is corrupt or treasonous, but I profoundly oppose his harsh, un-American policies toward immigrants and his shameful attacks on universities, though those draconian actions are popular with Trump’s big, bad base.
We have a duty to speak out against policies we oppose, like the proposed cuts to Medicaid, but everyone better cool their jets with the insult-slinging, or this is going to be a long, hot summer.
