Trump Attacks Beyonce, Jay-Z, Springsteen Over Clinton Support

President claims, without evidence, musicians were brought in to boost crowd sizes at Clinton events
Donald Trump criticized Beyonce, Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen for supporting Hillary Clinton in 2016.
CRAIG LASSIG/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

President Donald Trump went after Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen for their support of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. He made the remarks during a campaign rally in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Thursday.
During the speech, Trump reminisced about the crowd sizes of his rallies during the 2016 campaign, saying, “I didn’t need Beyoncé and Jay-Z. And I didn’t need little Bruce Springsteen and all of these people.”
He then claimed, without evidence, that these artists would come in and perform a couple of songs at Clinton events because she was unable to get a crowd. “What happens is they leave and everyone leaves with them, and she’s still speaking in front of the same lousy crowd. Craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Of course, the feelings between Trump and all three artists are likely mutual. In 2016, Springsteen called Trump a “moron” in an interview with Rolling Stone and last year, speaking with Esquire, he said Trump had forsaken things like family, community and his fellow citizens, leaving him “deeply damaged at his core.”
As for Beyoncé and Jay-Z, both were vocal supporters of Hillary Clinton and hosted a campaign event in Ohio several days before the election. Then, last year, in an interview with Van Jones, Jay-Z criticized Trump after he reportedly called African countries “shitholes,” saying the president and his remarks were the logical end product of behind-closed-doors racism.
“You don’t take the trash out, you keep spraying whatever over it to make it acceptable,” Jay-Z said. “As those things grow, you create a superbug. And then now we have Donald Trump, the superbug.”
Along with taking shots at Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Springsteen at his rally Thursday, Trump also garnered the ire of the Prince estate after playing “Purple Rain” at the event.
On Twitter, the estate shared a letter that claimed, in 2018, the Trump campaign signed an agreement with the estate saying it would not use any Prince songs in connection with Trump campaign events after Trump previously used “Purple Rain” during his rallies without permission.