"It's a tragedy for our democracy,” the rocker said. | Getty Bruce Springsteen on Trump: 'The republic is under siege by a moron, basically'

Bruce Springsteen called Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump a “moron” in an excerpt from an interview with Rolling Stone magazine published Friday.

“The republic is under siege by a moron, basically. The whole thing is tragic. Without overstating it, it's a tragedy for our democracy,” the rocker said, when asked what he makes of the “Trump phenomenon”.


Springsteen criticized Trump’s rhetoric, saying, “The ideas he's moving to the mainstream are all very dangerous ideas — white nationalism and the alt-right movement. The outrageous things that he's done — not immediately disavowing David Duke?”

Springsteen said that the things Trump has said and done would have ended any previous candidate’s campaign “immediately."

“I believe that there's a price being paid for not addressing the real cost of the deindustrialization and globalization [in the U.S.],” he said, adding, “Trump's thing is simple answers to very complex problems. Fallacious answers to very complex problems. And that can be very appealing.”

Springsteen also offered strong words of support for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, saying, “I like Hillary. I think she would be a very, very good president.”

When asked whether he’s given up on trying to impact the race, he said, “I don't know. I think you have a limited amount of impact as an entertainer, performer or musician.” However, he said he would consider getting involved with the election, adding, “I did it at the time because I felt the country was in crisis, which it certainly is right now.”