{"id":2441661,"date":"2025-06-02T08:54:57","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T12:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bono-twists-death-projections-in-defense-of-corrupt-usaid\/"},"modified":"2025-06-02T08:59:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T12:59:01","slug":"bono-twists-death-projections-in-defense-of-corrupt-usaid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bono-twists-death-projections-in-defense-of-corrupt-usaid\/","title":{"rendered":"Bono Twists Death Projections In Defense Of Corrupt USAID"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbono-twists-death-projections-in-defense-of-corrupt-usaid%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2441661&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The text recounts the author&#8217;s experience meeting Bono, the lead singer of the band U2, in 2002 during his &#8220;Heart of America tour&#8221; aimed at raising awareness about the AIDS crisis in africa and seeking funding support. The author presents Bono as self-vital and a &#8220;publicity whore&#8221; for his attempts to garner political backing for his causes, which included lobbying President George W. Bush for financial aid. the piece critiques Bono&#8217;s recent comments about the Trump governance, notably his claim that 300,000 people died due to cuts in USAID funding, branding it as exaggeration and misinformation. The author suggests Bono&#8217;s assertions serve as propaganda, arguing that they are designed to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/n-y-attorney-generals-office-discovers-astroturf-lobbying-scheme\/\" title=\"N.Y. Attorney General\u2019s office discovers astroturf lobbying scheme\">sway public opinion<\/a> against U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/flashback-biden-officials-admit-palestinian-aid-money-likely-to-benefit-hamas-free-beacon-reports\/\" title=\"FLASHBACK: Biden Officials Acknowledge Palestinian Aid Funds May Support Hamas, Free Beacon Reveals.\">foreign aid policies<\/a>. ultimately, the author expresses a disdain for Bono&#8217;s activism, stating that while they appreciate the music, they feel tired of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jake-owen-defends-jason-aldean-after-rock-stars-low-blow-at-try-that-in-a-small-town\/\" title=\"Jake Owen supports Jason Aldean amidst rock star&#039;s disrespectful comment about &#039;Try That in a Small Town&#039;.\">rock star&#8217;<\/a>s moral posturing and critique of America.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>I met <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/i\/flow\/login?redirect_after_login=\/bonobonovot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Paul <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bono\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">H<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/i\/flow\/login?redirect_after_login=\/bonobonovot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ewson<\/a> back in late 2002 in Dubuque, Iowa. He was insufferable then. The more things change, the more they stay the same.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Paul, better known in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/montana-bans-sanctuary-cities-for-illegal-immigrants\/\" title=\"Montana Bans Sanctuary Cities For Illegal Immigrants\">rock &#038;amp<\/a>; roll circles as Bono (not to be confused with the late, great California congressman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/this-day-in-history\/november-8\/salvatore-sonny-bono-is-elected-to-the-u-s-congress\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sonny Bono<\/a>), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraphherald.com\/news\/tri-state\/article_4502b21e-639a-11ed-89c6-af3b75e16946.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rolled in unannounced<\/a> to Dubuque&rsquo;s taxpayer-assisted Grand Harbor Resort &amp; Waterpark seeking taxpayer cash for his preferred causes. He brought with him the ever-insufferable <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/democratic-activist-and-actor-ashley-judd-adds-her-voice-to-calling-on-biden-to-leave-race\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ashley Judd<\/a> &mdash; who would nearly 15 years later offer a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2017\/02\/09\/everything-womens-march-movement-wants-believe-lie\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&ldquo;nasty&rdquo; vagina monologue<\/a> during the obnoxious left&rsquo;s first resistance movement against President Donald Trump.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Other self-important stars joined the Midwest cavalcade in other cities, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alamy.com\/three-time-tour-de-france-winner-lance-armstrong-at-podium-addresses-the-media-at-a-news-conference-to-kick-off-the-heart-of-america-tour-sunday-dec-1-2002-in-lincoln-neb-also-shown-are-irish-rocker-bono-center-in-cap-actress-ashley-judd-background-left-and-investor-warren-buffett-right-the-tour-is-aimed-at-raising-awareness-of-the-aids-epidemic-in-africa-ap-photodave-weaver-image542960098.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">including<\/a> champion cyclist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/features\/index-of-lance-armstrong-doping-allegations-over-the-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lance Armstrong,<\/a> a doping cheater who would finally be forced to admit as much a decade later. #Livestrong. But on this gray December day in 2002, it was just Paul, Ashley, and a handful of celebrity-smitten local businesspeople meeting with a few reporters, including this much younger and less jaded journalist for Dubuque&rsquo;s Telegraph Herald.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And, of course, &ldquo;Bono&rdquo; Paul would quietly bring an NBC News crew with him because, well, that&rsquo;s the kind of publicity whore U2&rsquo;s front man has always been. Many of the stops were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.u2songs.com\/shows\/other_heart_of_america_tour\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filmed<\/a> for a documentary that debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2004.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The pampered celebrities and their entourage traveled in style on three tour buses. The traveling revue was all part of Bono&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.u2songs.com\/shows\/other_heart_of_america_tour\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Heart of America Tour<\/a>, in which he and his leftist friends sought to shine a spotlight on the AIDS crisis in Africa and debt relief for third world nations &mdash; and, per usual, to shake down U.S. political leaders for more taxpayer money. President George W. Bush was one of the shaken, as Rolling Stone reported in 2002, briefly pausing its PR war against the Republican commander-in-chief long enough to tell the kids that Bono thought Bush was pretty cool for pitching $5 billion in U.S. aid for the rock star&rsquo;s pet project. The leftist mag fawned over the &ldquo;dynamic duo&rdquo; and their &ldquo;crusade for economic assistance and AIDS funding.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is much easier and hipper for me to be on the barricades with a handkerchief over my nose &mdash; it looks better on the resume of a rock &amp; roll star,&rdquo; Bono <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-news\/bono-meets-bush-194801\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a> the publication in a March 2002 interview. &ldquo;But I can do better by just getting into the White House and talking to a man who I believe listens, wants to listen, on these subjects.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Bush ultimately signed the Global AIDS Act more than a year later, authorizing $3 billion, which Congress cut by a third. Bono was ticked.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Bono said he&rsquo;s very angry but he&rsquo;s trying to calm down and get the president to open &lsquo;America&rsquo;s wallet,&rsquo;&rdquo; CBS News dutifully <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/bush-bono-clash-over-aids-funding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n<p>The more things change &hellip;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Bugger Off, Bono<\/h2>\n<p>On the latest episode of the <em>Joe Rogan Experience<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qe64ayAbDjM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">podcast,<\/a> Bono was back to attacking the land that he <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/blogs\/in-the-know\/5325619-bono-trump-springsteen-jimmy-kimmel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">supposedly loves<\/a>, or at least its duly elected president and his administration. Bono, one of the left&rsquo;s most dependable useful idiots, falsely declared that 300,000 people have died thanks to the Trump administration&rsquo;s move to cut funding and stop many of the operations of the corrupt and criminally wasteful U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This will f&mdash; you off,&rdquo; Bono warned Rogan in asserting that tens of thousands of tons of food are &ldquo;rotting&rdquo; in warehouses from Djibouti to Houston as a result of the loss of the fired USAID-funded workers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What is that? That&rsquo;s not America, is it?&rdquo; He added.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>He&rsquo;s such a liar\/idiot &#129318;&zwj;&#9794;&#65039; <\/p>\n<p>Zero people have died!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1928650871035891811?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>As legal analyst Jonathan Turley <a href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2025\/06\/01\/bono-fide-u2-frontman-claims-300000-have-died-due-to-usaid-cuts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a>, the source for the widely cited figure Bono regurgitated &ldquo;is an example of how some facts are simply too good to check in the media.&rdquo; The doomsday number is in fact a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.impactcounter.com\/dashboard?view=table&amp;sort=title&amp;order=asc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">speculative model<\/a> pushed by Boston University mathematical health modeler <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/brooke-nichols\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Brooke Nichols.<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The extent of the impact on aid interruptions is a matter of debate, but what is not is the fact that Nichols herself has said the 300,000 figure is not an actual body count but a projection. And the projection doesn&rsquo;t take into account a number of factors. Bono, too, had to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/bono-sparks-maga-backlash-during-joe-rogan-appearance-2079295\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">acknowledge as much<\/a> in the middle of his gaslighting on Rogan&rsquo;s show. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What is the value of a projection with such sweeping &lsquo;likely highly variable&rsquo; assumptions?&rdquo; Turley asks in a <a href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2025\/06\/01\/bono-fide-u2-frontman-claims-300000-have-died-due-to-usaid-cuts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">column<\/a> published Sunday on his page.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The value is propaganda. Fact-less currency meant to be gobbled up and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/us\/american-politics\/article\/usaid-doge-deaths-children-cuts-7nb83dfkp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">perpetuated<\/a> by Bono&rsquo;s useful idiot pals in the Trump-hating corporate media. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/bono-schools-joe-rogan-on-evil-elon-musk-unleashed-on-the-world\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mission accomplished<\/a>. It&rsquo;s meant to try to change the opinions of Americans who understandably are fed up with their country being the world&rsquo;s thankless benefactor, often in places that hate the United States and would love to see it in ashes. Taxpayers have grown <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rasmussenreports.com\/public_content\/politics\/trump_administration_second_term\/most_voters_are_angry_about_waste_of_taxpayer_money\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">angry<\/a>, appalled by the waste, fraud and abuse bleeding from bloated government agencies such as USAID, corruption uncovered by an administration that is doing something about it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But lest we forget, Paul Hewson is not an American citizen. As they say in his home country of Ireland, Bono can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/bugger%20off\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bugger off.<\/a> The rock star and social activist who&rsquo;s been browbeating U.S. leaders for decades to bail out impoverished nations lives in &ldquo;one of Ireland&rsquo;s most exclusive neighborhoods,&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishstar.com\/travel\/ireland\/chance-live-next-bono-enya-32211016\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a> to the Irish Star.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>U2&rsquo;s <em>Joshua Tree<\/em> is one of my favorite rock albums, but I can definitely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.u2.com\/lyrics\/175\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">live without <\/a>the sanctimonious rock star.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >award-winning investigative reporter<\/a> and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I met Paul Hewson in late 2002 in Dubuque, Iowa; he was unbearable then<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":656,"featured_media":2441662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-06-02-at-12.50.31-AM.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[56348,8773,56349,16381],"class_list":["post-2441661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bono","tag-corruption","tag-death-projections","tag-usaid"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-06-02-at-12.50.31-AM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2441661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2441661"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2441661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2441665,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2441661\/revisions\/2441665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2441662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2441661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2441661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2441661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}