New Jersey Governor Candidate Fakes Spotify Wrapped in Most New Jersey Approach Doable

Josh Gottheimer, a Democratic Congressman and present New Jersey gubernatorial candidate, loves Bruce Springsteen, and he needs you to understand it. Like, actually needs you to understand it. He needs you to understand 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…properly, in not that lengthy, as a result of there are tons of them. However this one is spectacularly foolish.

Right here’s the state of affairs: As everybody was sharing their Spotify Wrapped this 12 months (and cringing on the firm’s choice to present it as a podcast hosted by two AI hosts who couldn’t pronounce artist names appropriately), Gottheimer determined to drop his high songs and attempt to curry favor amongst New Jerseyans by displaying off his fanboy credentials for Bruce Springsteen, the state’s golden youngster.

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 stated in a tweet displaying that his high 5 tracks of the 12 months had been all Springfield joints: “Thunder Street,” “As a result of the Night time,” “Glory Days,” “Badlands” and “The Rising.” Hey, you want what you want. If the latest music in your most performed got here out greater than twenty years in the past, so be it.

Besides these weren’t actually his high songs. Folks fairly shortly picked up on the truth that one thing was mistaken along with his Wrapped. Certain, 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 high songs” was fairly clearly in a distinct 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 got the gubernatorial candidate on the horn to ask and he determined to throw his children beneath the bus. “This is able to be my Spotify Wrapped if I didn’t share my account with my 12 and 15-year-old children,” Gottheimer said. “Whereas it’s Springsteen all day for me — don’t get me mistaken, I nonetheless love listening to Taylor Swift!”

The Congressman has defended his choice to go full Cease The Steal on Spotify’s information 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 chill out. 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 chill out. 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 12 months, 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 tough? Will New Jerseyans merely refuse to forgive you in the event you don’t have the E Road Band serving because the backtracking to each second of your life?

Residents of New Jersey take heed to different stuff! According 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’ll be able to like Bruce Springsteen, you’ll be able to take heed to him solely if that’s your factor. However doctoring your fandom credentials with a view to show that you just refuse to increase your horizons shouldn’t be actually the flex that you just may assume it’s, Josh.