Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez, a former longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen, said the rock legend should show “respect” for President Donald Trump by virtue of him being president.
The original E Street Band Drummer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer revealed his thoughts about Bruce Springsteen’s and Trump contentious relationship in an interview with the New York Post.
“You gotta have respect for the president,” said Lopez in response to Springsteen calling the White House a “corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless and treasonous administration” during his “Land of Hope and Dreams” tour.
“Trump is the president of the United States — everyone should have respect for him,” Lopez added. “He is the president of the United States. And if I was standing there talking to him, I would have mucho respect for the man.”
Lopez said he and his current group, The Wonderful Winos, avoid politics when going out on tour.
“My band, whatever we think, we don’t go there in our music,” said Lopez.
Lopez said he takes a fairly moderate view of politics but has voted Republican for City Council and U.S. Congress.
The ongoing feud between Trump and Springsteen took a sharp turn earliest this month when the president urged people to boycott the rock star, referring to him as a “dried up prune.”
“Bad, and very boring singer, Bruce Springsteen, who looks like a dried up prune who has suffered greatly from the work of a really bad plastic surgeon, has long had a horrible and incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, sometimes referred to as TDS,” the president said on Truth Social. “The guy is a total loser who spews hate against a President who won a Landslide Election, including the popular vote, all Seven Swing States, and 86% of the Counties across America.”
Days later, Springsteen called the Trump White House a “corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless and treasonous administration.”
