When political candidates play Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” at their campaign rallies, you can usually assume they’ve never listened to the lyrics. But Donald Trump’s apparent decision to add the 1984 tune his warm-up music bespeaks a certain political savvy.
For one, Trump’s vision of America, like “Born in the U.S.A.”‘s, is a downcast one: an America that, as Trump has repeatedly said, “doesn’t win anymore.”
But perhaps more to the point, Trump has added “Born in the U.S.A.” to his playlist at precisely the same time that he has begun repeatedly alluding to the fact that his primary opponent Ted Cruz was born in Canada. Trump is nothing if not clever.
