In July 2026, some social media users shared a quote critical of U.S. President Donald Trump that they claimed was from musician Bruce Springsteen. One Facebook post (archived) quoted Springsteen as saying
(Facebook page David J Harris Jr.)
This same quote attributed to Springsteen was shared in other posts on Facebook (archived) and on X (archived).
Springsteen spoke those words during a concert in Manchester, United Kingdom, on May 14, 2025. His official website has a transcript of the quote, and his YouTube channel has a clip of him saying it, plus the song he played immediately after. Therefore, we've rated this claim a correct attribution.
It's worth noting that the above posts combined two separate sentences that Springsteen spoke at different points in a much longer quote, which we've reproduced below.
During the concert, which was the opening of Springsteen's Land of Hope & Dreams Tour with the E Street Band, Springsteen began three songs with statements about the United States. His third statement, which led the song "My City of Ruins," was his longest, and it included the words shared on social media in July 2026. He said (emphasis our own):
There's some very weird, strange and dangerous s*** going on out there right now. In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now.
In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world's poorest children to sickness and death. This is happening now.
In my country, they're taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers.
They're rolling back historic civil rights legislation that has led to a more just and plural society.
They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They are defunding American universities that won't bow down to their ideological demands.
They are removing residents off American streets and, without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centers and prisons. This is all happening now.
A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. They have no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American.
The America l've sung to you about for 50 years is real and regardless of its faults is a great country with a great people. So we'll survive this moment. Now, I have hope, because I believe in the truth of what the great American writer James Baldwin said. He said, "In this world, there isn't as much humanity as one would like, but there's enough." Let's pray.
Footage of Springsteen saying the statement is available on his official YouTube channel as part of the video for his performance of "My City of Ruins" in Manchester.
He says the first part of the statement about 26 seconds into the video. The part of the statement where Springsteen calls Trump an unfit president begins at 2:18.
In May 2025, after Springsteen's Manchester concert, Snopes confirmed another quote correctly attributed to Springsteen was from the same concert.