When asked on Thursday to comment on a certain song protesting ICE, the thuggish way the agency detains undocumented men, women, and children, and its killing of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, the White House was dismissive. “The Trump administration is … not [focused on] random songs with irrelevant opinions and inaccurate information,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Hollywood Reporter.
The “random” song in question was “Streets of Minneapolis” by a singer who’s anything but random: Bruce Springsteen. Some of the song’s “irrelevant opinions” are things like killing unarmed U.S. citizens like Renée Good is wrong, resisting federal tyranny, and condemning lies spread by Trump henchmen like Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem.
Springsteen’s message in the song is crystal clear, and he drove it home further in a statement when he released it: “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. 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.”
None of Springsteen’s words tracked well with Jackson. The Hollywood Reporter asked her to respond to that full statement, and she used her platform to attempt a pivot: “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. The media should cover how Democrats have refused to work with the administration, and instead, opted to provide sanctuary for these criminal illegals.”
A rep for Springsteen did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
From the looks of protests condemning ICE’s actions in Minneapolis and around the U.S. all over the country, though, it seems like it’s Jackson’s opinions that are irrelevant. Moreover, the Trump administration has reportedly been working with Democrats in efforts to “rein in ICE and end the violence,” as Senator Chuck Schumer has put it, as a means of avoiding another government shutdown, according to The New York Times. Moreover, Republican senators, including Thom Tillis (North Carolina) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), have called for the removal of Noem, whose department oversees ICE.
And of course, there are more “random songs” with “irrelevant opinions” arriving every day. Rolling Stone has begun compiling a growing list of protest songs by NOFX, My Morning Jacket, Billy Bragg, and others. Meanwhile, “Streets of Minneapolis” has already garnered millions of views on YouTube in the day or so it’s been out, and that number is growing too.
