Trump Doesn't Really Care About His Economically Struggling Supporters, Bono Says
Bono of the band U2 stated on the Tuesday episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" that he does not believe President Donald Trump cares his less fortunate supporters and that it would be hard to work alongside him to combat global poverty.
Kimmel asked Bono his opinion on the possibility of meeting and working with President Trump to deal with issues like fighting AIDS and extreme poverty.
Bono responded that with the charity the ONE Campaign, he works with liberals and conservatives, saying that "our thinking is that you just need one thing to agree with somebody on to start a conversation."
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"However," said Bono, getting laughs from the audience before he continued, "everything is different now. And it really is. The game has changed."
Bono noted that while he has a lot of respect for Republicans and understands why many Americans voted for Trump, he does not believe the president really cares for the less fortunate.
"I don't think he's the cure for this problem and I think he might even make it worse. And I don't think there is any evidence in his life that he has the people who are hardest hit in mind," said Bono.
"That really saddens me, because I know he likes to see their faces in the crowd, but I don't think he wants to know who they are when they go home and that saddens me."
Bono's comments came on the same day that Trump released his first full budget proposal, which increases defense spending while cutting assorted domestic programs.
The proposed budget sparked criticism from groups like the evangelical aid organization Bread for the World, which accused Trump of launching an "assault on poor and hungry people."
"There are no two ways about it. President Trump's budget is an unprecedented assault on people living in hunger and poverty," stated Bread for the World President the Rev. David Beckmann.
"Together with his recent health care cuts, especially to Medicaid, this is a double whammy on vulnerable people."
Romina Boccia, deputy director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, disagreed with the assessment, stating in a Heritage Foundation piece that the budget is effectively dealing with wasteful spending.
"The president's budget seeks to balance in no more than 10 years. This is a laudable and important goal that fiscal conservatives should keep their eye on. The budget does this in part with sensible mandatory spending reforms to Medicaid, welfare and disability programs," stated Boccia.
"This budget proposal also follows the right approach on discretionary spending, by prioritizing national defense in a fiscally responsible way, with offsetting cuts to domestic programs that are redundant, improper, or otherwise wasteful."
