Rock legend Bruce Springsteen has described Donald Trump as a “moron” and “tragic” in an election campaign he has chosen largely to stay out of, until now.
Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine, the singer said: “The republic is under siege by a moron, basically. Without overstating it, it’s a tragedy for our democracy.”
Springsteen also accused Trump of offering “simple answers to very complex problems”.
“The ideas he’s moving to the mainstream are all very dangerous ideas – white nationalism and the alt-right movement.”
Springsteen said he liked Hillary Clinton and thought she would be a “very, very good president”.
Speaking in a separate interview with a talk-show in Norway and Sweden he described the Republican presidential candidate as an embarrassment to the United States.
Springsteen, who has dramatised the plight of working-class Americans in his music, said he understands how Trump could seem “compelling” to people who are economically insecure.
“The absurdity is beyond cartoon-like. But he’s gotten close enough [to the White House] so it can make you nervous,” he told the talk show Skavlan.
“I don’t think he’s going to win, but even him running is a great embarrassment if you’re an American,” he said.
Trump knows how to tell voters “some of the things they want to hear,” he added, including to people “uncomfortable with the ‘browning’ of America.”
“We have certain problems in the United States – tremendous inequality of wealth distribution. That makes for ripe ground for demagoguery,” Springsteen said.
“He has a very simple answer to all these very, very complex problems.”
Springsteen recorded the interview with the talk show ahead of next week’s release of his memoir, Born to Run, which describes his childhood in New Jersey and rise to fame.
The singer, famous for his onstage stamina, has drawn a diverse field of devoted fans for decades, including New Jersey governor Chris Christie, one of Trump’s most public backers.
Springsteen insisted for years that he would let his music speak for him but has been more openly political since the election in 2004, when he campaigned for John Kerry in his unsuccessful bid to win the White House from George W Bush.
