Josh Gottheimer, a Democratic Congressman and present New Jersey gubernatorial candidate, loves Bruce Springsteen, and he needs you to realize it. Like, actually needs you to realize it. He needs you to realize it so badly that he was apparently keen to Photoshop his Spotify Wrapped to show solely Springsteen hits, in what could be essentially the most pointless political scandal in…effectively, in not that lengthy, as a result of there are tons of them. However this one is spectacularly foolish.
Right here’s the scenario: As everybody was sharing their Spotify Wrapped this yr (and cringing on the firm’s choice to current it as a podcast hosted by two AI hosts who couldn’t pronounce artist names appropriately), Gottheimer determined to drop his prime songs and attempt to curry favor amongst New Jerseyans by displaying off his fanboy credentials for Bruce Springsteen, the state’s golden baby.
No surprises right here…
Enjoyable reality: My first ever live performance was at Meadowlands to see The Boss! pic.twitter.com/xuAcNn8si8
— Josh Gottheimer (@Josh4Jersey) December 6, 2024
“No surprises right here,” Gottheimer mentioned in a tweet displaying that his prime 5 tracks of the yr had been all Springfield joints: “Thunder Highway,” “As a result of the Night time,” “Glory Days,” “Badlands” and “The Rising.” Hey, you want what you want. If the latest track in your most performed got here out greater than 20 years in the past, so be it.
Besides these weren’t actually his prime songs. Individuals fairly rapidly picked up on the truth that one thing was incorrect along with his Wrapped. Positive, it’s extraordinarily pixelated however that’s very on-brand for a Gen Xer on-line, no hurt there. As first identified by New Jersey Monitor’s Terrence McDonald, the giveaway was the textual content itself: the “g” within the phrase “Your prime songs” was fairly clearly in a special typeface than the remainder of the textual content, and the numbers and spacing had been off, too.
🤔Lol. h/t @terrencemcd pic.twitter.com/pRh61vRvsO
— Matt Arco (@MatthewArco) December 9, 2024
It’s fairly clear Gottheimer manipulated his Spotify Wrapped. Why? NJ.com’s Jeremy Schneider received the gubernatorial candidate on the horn to ask and he determined to throw his youngsters beneath the bus. “This could be my Spotify Wrapped if I didn’t share my account with my 12 and 15-year-old youngsters,” Gottheimer mentioned. “Whereas it’s Springsteen all day for me — don’t get me incorrect, I nonetheless love listening to Taylor Swift!”
The Congressman has defended his choice to go full Cease The Steal on Spotify’s knowledge by invoking the “It was a joke!” protection. He tweeted Wednesday, “To paraphrase the Boss: I wasn’t right here for enterprise child, I used to be solely right here for enjoyable. So simply loosen up. This was a enjoyable vacation tweet. It’s a joke to query my Springsteen creds, simply ask my canine named Rosalita!”
To paraphrase the Boss: I wasn’t right here for enterprise child, I used to be solely right here for enjoyable. So simply loosen up. This was a enjoyable vacation tweet. It’s a joke to query my Springsteen creds, simply ask my canine named Rosalita! pic.twitter.com/M8zShqjZ7N
— Josh Gottheimer (@Josh4Jersey) December 11, 2024
Alright, man, you like Bruce Springsteen. We get it.
However right here’s a query: Who is that this for, precisely? Clearly, The Boss is beloved in New Jersey. Final yr, sitting Governor Phil Murphy declared September 23 to be “Bruce Springsteen Day” within the state. However do you really want to hammer on the Bruce Tramps demographic this difficult? Will New Jerseyans merely refuse to forgive you in the event you don’t have the E Avenue Band serving because the backtracking to each second of your life?
Residents of New Jersey take heed to different stuff! In response to iHeartRadio, the state’s favourite artist in 2023 was SZA. Bruce isn’t even the highest-streamed New Jersey-born artist—as of 2022, that honor belonged to Halsey. You may like Bruce Springsteen, you may take heed to him solely if that’s your factor. However doctoring your fandom credentials as a way to show that you just refuse to increase your horizons just isn’t actually the flex that you just may assume it’s, Josh.
