politics, if any, but flags get waved at his concerts while he sings songs about hard times. He is no whiner, and the recitation of closed factories and other problems always seems punctuated by a grand, cheerful affirmation: 'Born in the U.S.A.!'" The 1984 presidential campaign was in full stride at the time, and Will had connections to President Ronald Reagan's re-election organization. Will thought that Springsteen might endorse Reagan (not knowing that Springsteen did not support him), and got the notion pushed up to high-level Reagan advisor Michael Deaver. His staffers made inquiries to Springsteen's management, which were politely rebuffed. Nevertheless, at a campaign stop in Hammonton, New Jersey, on September 19, 1984, Reagan added the following to his speech: The press immediately expressed skepticism that Reagan knew anything about Springsteen, and asked what his favorite Springsteen song was; "Born to Run" was the response from staffers. Johnny Carson then joked on The Tonight Show, "If you believe that, I've got a couple of tickets to the Mondale–Ferraro inaugural ball I'd like to sell you." During a September 21 concert in Pittsburgh, Springsteen responded negatively by introducing his song "Johnny 99", a song about an unemployed auto worker who turns to murder, "The President was mentioning my name the other day, and I kinda got to wondering what his favorite album musta been. I don't think it was the Nebraska album. I don't think he's been listening to this one." A few days after that, presidential challenger Walter Mondale said, "Bruce Springsteen may have been born to run but he wasn't born yesterday", and then claimed to have been endorsed by Springsteen. Springsteen manager Jon Landau denied any such endorsement, and the Mondale campaign issued a correction. In 2000, Reason editor and libertarian journalist Brian Doherty, noting that political song lyrics are often either misunderstood or not understood at all by fans, wrote, "But who's to say Reagan wasn't right to insist the song was an upper? When I hear those notes and that drumbeat, and the Boss' best arena-stentorian, shout-groan vocals come over the speakers, I feel like I'm hearing the national anthem." "Born in the U.S.A." was heard at rallies for President Donald Trump and outside the hospital where he was being treated for COVID-19 in October 2020. On this topic, Josh Terry of Vice wrote: "That 'Born in the U.S.A.' has been used for decades in