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Bruce Springsteen’s former drummer Vini Lopez is speaking out against the Boss for slamming President Donald Trump while on his Land of Hope and Dreams Tour.
Since kicking off the tour in Minneapolis on March 31, Springsteen, 76, has repeatedly unleashed blistering attacks on Trump during his shows, blasting the administration as “corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless and treasonous” and mocking the 79-year-old as a “president who can’t handle the truth” among other insults.
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During a recent interview with the California Post, Lopez, 77, who was Springsteen’s original E Street Band drummer, pushed back against the singer for criticizing Trump while on tour.
“You gotta have respect for the president,” Lopez said.
“Trump is the president of the United States — everyone should have respect for him,” he continued.
“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 added, noting that he “wouldn’t talk to him about anything that’s going on” in politics.
In 1969, Lopez, Springsteen and fellow musicians Vinnie Roslin and Danny Federici founded the band Child, which would later become known as Steel Mill. The band performed together until 1971 after which Springsteen formed the E Street Band with Lopez included in the original lineup.
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Lopez played with on Springsteen’s first two studio albums “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” and “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle” before leaving the band in 1974.
While speaking of the reason for his departure from the E Street Band, Lopez told that California Post that he was “too jazzy for what [Springsteen] wanted to do.”
However, Lopez reunited with Springsteen for performances several times since his exit. In April 2014, Lopez was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band and played with the group and Springsteen at the induction ceremony.
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In September 2016, he performed with Springsteen and the E Street Band in Philadelphia during a guest appearance on their River Tour.
Lopez is currently performing with his group the Wonderful Winos and told the California Post that their shows were unlike those of Springsteen, who previously declared the Land of Hopes and Dreams tour would be “political and very topical about what’s going on in the country.”
“My band, whatever we think, we don’t go there in our music,” he said.
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Lopez said he doesn’t consider himself strongly ideological, though he acknowledged voting Republican in races ranging from local City Council to Congress.
Along with his music career, Lopez also worked as a golf caddy for many years. He said that he once met Trump at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., before he became president.
Lopez said that he was aware of Trump’s conservative politics and shook his hand.
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“He was very nice to me,” Lopez recalled.
“He was very inquisitive and introduced me to Melania,” he added, referring to Trump’s wife, First Lady Melania Trump.
As he was heading out that day, Lopez recalled Trump pulled him aside and asked for a “big favor.”
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Lopez recalled that Trump then told him “‘Tell Bruce I’m his biggest fan.'”
Meanwhile, Trump recently called on his supporters to boycott Springsteen’s “overpriced” new tour.
“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 wrote in a Truth Social post earlier this month.
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He continued, “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.”
Trump further claimed that under former President Joe Biden and Democrats, “our Country was DEAD, and now we have the ‘hottest’ Country, by far, anywhere in the World. MAGA SHOULD BOYCOTT HIS OVERPRICED CONCERTS, WHICH SUCK. SAVE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY. AMERICA IS BACK!!!”
While speaking with California Post, Lopez that he is “not against what Bruce is saying” and supports the 20-time Grammy Award winner’s right to speak out.
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However, Lopez shared his view that politics shouldn’t divide Americans.
“Maybe when I was 20, I was a little more extreme, but I’m 77 now, so the extremities are gone,” he said. “It’s so divided, the political part. It’s a tough one on me.”
Lopez told the outlet that he remains optimistic about Trump’s policies.
“I would love to see something good come out,” he said.
Lopez also made it clear that there had been no personal falling out with Springsteen, saying that they are on “perfect” terms and occasionally keep in touch.
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“If he wants me to do something, he’ll call me,” Lopez said.
“Sometimes it’s just because he hasn’t seen me for a while. And he’ll call me and say. ‘Hey, come around here,’” he continued. “And most of the time it’s terrible when I call him because it’s when one of our crew died and he doesn’t know that. That’s happening more and more.”
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While Lopez told the outlet that he doesn’t plan on attending any of Springsteen and the E Street Band’s concerts during their Land of Hope and Dreams tour, he said he went to one of their shows in Philadelphia a few years ago. However, he noted that he didn’t interact with Springsteen.
“I don’t even think he knew I was there,” the drummer said. “I was sitting over in the corner.”
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