Josh Gottheimer says he’s a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen.
The New Jersey congressman took the podium to The Boss’s iconic Glory Days last month to declare his candidacy for governor.
On his campaign website, Gottheimer, a Democrat from Bergen County and four-term member of the US House of Representatives, also mentions Bruce, stating that he grew up going to Springsteen concerts whenever he could.
However, a perplexing social media post implied that Gottheimer might be overstating his Bruce credentials.
Participating in the annual cultural show-and-tell, in which many users of the music streaming service share the songs they listened to the most during a certain year, Gottheimer shared on Twitter/X on Friday what looked to be a screenshot of his top five tracks from hisSpotify Wrapped.
The songs Thunder Road, Because the Night, Glory Days, Badlands, and The Rising were all Springsteen hits.
Gottheimer, 49, wrote in the post, “No surprises here.” Fun fact: I saw The Boss perform live at Meadowlands for my very first concert!
There are no surprises here.Fun fact: I saw The Boss perform live at Meadowlands for my very first concert!xuAcNn8si8 pic.twitter.com/
All of that seems plausible, or at least consistent with the pro-Bruce stance of the North Caldwell native.
However, as was initially mentioned in the New Jersey Monitors newsletter on Monday, Gottheimer’s article contained certain inconsistencies that raised doubts about the authenticity of the screenshot.
The following are some of the discrepancies: Unlike the g used by Spotify, the g in Your Top Songs was written in a different typeface. Additionally, the resolution, spacing, and numbers were incorrect.
Aside from that, h/[email protected]/pRh61vRvsO
Gottheimer said his post was a fake list and wasn’t taken straight from Spotify when contacted on Monday afternoon.
In a statement to NJ Advance Media, Gottheimer stated, “If I didn’t share my account with my 12 and 15-year-old kids, this would be my Spotify Wrapped.” Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy listening to Taylor Swift, but for me, it’s all Springsteen!
Without mentioning that it was phony, Gottheimer’s tweet may be seen as an attempt to bolster his Springsteen-fan, every-man persona among potential voters, potentially exaggerating the significance of a politician’s rock ‘n roll listening habits.
The Garden State equivalent of yelling “Roll Tide” in Alabama or gorging on a corn dog at the Iowa State Fair, riding hard for the boss is, after all, one of the simplest ways to gain points in New Jersey.
Gottheimer is by no means the first local politician to adopt this tactic. Governor Murphy proclaimed September 23, which is Springsteen’s birthday, to be Bruce Springsteen Day in New Jersey last year. Additionally, former Governor Chris Christie, a loud Boss acolyte, ensured that the B Street Band, a tribute band to Springsteen, performed at his first banquet in 2010.
In the crowded contest to replace Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, who is term-limited, Gottheimer is regarded as one of the front-runners for the Democratic candidacy next year.
With over 640 million users, Spotify is the most widely used audio streaming subscription service worldwide.
This report was written by Brent Johnson, a staff writer for NJ Advance Media.
You can contact Jeremy Schneider at [email protected], and you can follow him on Twitter at @J_Schneider.and at @JeremyIsHungryAgain on Instagram.
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