President Trump Insults ‘Little’ Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Jay-Z at Campaign Rally

By Jem Aswad

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – At a campaign rally in Minneapolis on Thursday night, President Trump not only insulted the Prince Estate by playing “Purple Rain” despite a pledge last year not to do so , he also went after several major Democratic politicians, along with Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce and Jay-Z for their performances in support of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016.

The president responded to the recent impeachment proceedings and voluminous accusations of improper, inappropriate, unpresidential and quite possibly illegal behavior against him as he usually does: With a series of random insults stemming from the 2016 campaign. He spoke of the crowds at his rallies before the election, saying, “I didn’t need Beyoncé and Jay-Z. I didn’t need little .” He said, with little basis in fact, that Springsteen would “do about two songs [at the Clinton event], then leave … and everyone leaves with him. And [Clinton is] still speaking in front of the same lousy crowd. Craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Reps for the three artists did not immediately respond to Variety’s requests for comment.

During the rally, the campaign also played Prince’s “Purple Rain,” after it had pledged not to do so in a letter to the artist’s estate a year ago. The Prince Estate strongly criticized the Trump campaign, posting a statement on social media alongside the letter: “President Trump played Prince ’s ‘Purple Rain’ tonight at a campaign event in Minneapolis despite confirming a year ago that the campaign would not use Prince’s music,” it reads. “The Prince Estate will never give permission to President Trump to use Prince’s songs.”