MAGA loyalists were furious Monday after music legend Bruce Springsteen said he was a true "patriot" and called out President Donald Trump.
In a PBS special called "Bruce Springsteen: Finding America in Song," the musician talked about fighting for a better America and encouraging others to do the same, Variety reported. Springsteen has been critical of Trump and his administration — and the president has lashed out against the artist, calling him a "bad, and very boring singer."
"I believe in critical patriotism," Springsteen told PBS. "I believe that’s the definition of a patriot, you know, that you love your country so much that you are willing to look at it clearly, recognize its faults, encourage it to be a better place, and believe that you carry in your heart the country that is waiting."
MAGA fans reacted to Springsteen's comments.
"He is wrong. What he is doing is using his platform to add to the unjustified rhetoric that is fueling the fires which are tearing this country apart. He is no hero," actor and filmmaker Jeff Rose, who often shares MAGA-related content, wrote on X.
"And I believe you’re a two-bit schmuck who hasn’t had a decent song since born to run! So do that song boy RUN!!" Jeffrey Calvert, who self-describes as "Christian, conservative," wrote on X.
"Springsteen sounds ungrateful for living in a country where he could become rich by being a musician. You can't define a country you love by the things you hate about it," Ted Nightingale, who shares pro-MAGA content and self-describes as "Patriot," wrote on X.
"He is a coward, not a patriot. Bruce Springsteen Declares Himself a ‘Patriot’ for Trashing Trump: ‘I Believe in Critical Patriotism,'" MAGA commentator Kevin Kmak wrote on X.