Watch Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Fallon Slam Chris Christie in “Born to Run” Parody


On Tuesday, Bruce Springsteen stopped by NBC’s Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, where he helped deliver a scathing comic critique of New Jersey governor Chris Christie. Springsteen and host Jimmy Fallon sang and played and duet of “Gov. Christie Traffic Jam,” an original parody of Springsteen’s classic “Born to Run.” (Watch above.)

The lyrics take aim at the Christie administration Bridgegate scandal, and include lines about the lane closure being a “bitch slap” to state Democrats, and how Gov. Christie’s press conference last week was longer than a Springsteen concert.

“You’re killing the working man who’s stuck in the Gov. Chris Christie Fort Lee, New Jersey, traffic jam!” Springsteen and Fallon belt out.

The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Springsteen and Fallon’s joint indictment of his administration—but it’s not hard to imagine that Christie would feel a little stung by it. Christie is a huge fan of Springsteen and has clearly yearned for The Boss to be his friend. The Jersey-born rock star is a staunch liberal and only recently embraced (literally) the Republican governor in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

Fallon and Christie also have a history. The governor appeared on Fallon’s show last year to “slow jam” the news (in a bit that included a reference to “Born to Run”), and to participate in a gag about his weight.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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