Bono criticises “evil” USAid cuts in lengthy interview with podcaster Joe Rogan
U2 frontman Bono has spoken out against cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAid) in a new, sprawling interview with podcaster Joe Rogan.
In a three-hour episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, released on May 30th, the Irish rock star described the cuts as an act of “evil”, and that the benefit programmes previously supported by USAid have been decimated “with glee”.
He then claimed that over 300,000 people have died as a result of the slashed USAid, citing academic research as evidence, prompting anger from Elon Musk, who wrote called the Irishman a “liar/idiot” on X and said “zero people have died.”
Bono highlighted the way in which he supported the previous US president George W Bush to increase international spending from the country, particularly in providing medications and interventions intended to combat AIDS.
“I remember being in the Oval Office with President Bush, and we had these antiretroviral drugs,” he recalled. “I said, ‘Paint them red, white and blue, Mr President, because these are the best advertisements for America there’ll ever be’.”
Noting that “I can tell you as a person who saw what the United States was doing around the world, I saw America display itself at its finest,” Bono compared that to the current landscape, in which “all of that was torn down without a heads-up, without any notice, because people thought foreign aid was like ten per cent of the budget or 20 per cent and it was doing things that it shouldn’t have been doing.”
Given the frontman’s outspoken political views, he was perhaps a surprising guest for the podcast, where host Rogan has previously been accused of spreading misinformation and supporting Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
It comes after Bono previously condemned the Gaza conflict at last week’s Ivor Novello Awards, where U2 were being honoured, calling on Israel to “stop the war.”
The rocker is currently helming a range of projects, from the new film Stories of Surrender, book Surrender, as well as an upcoming fresh U2 album.
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