Madonna comes for Trump for failing to recognise World AIDS Day
Madonna has slammed Donald Trump’s ‘absurd’ decision not to mark World AIDS Day. (Getty)
Madonna has slammed Donald Trump's 'absurd' decision not to mark World AIDS Day. (Getty)
Madonna has slammed Donald Trump’s administration for its “absurd” decision not to recognise World AIDS Day.
The awareness day, which takes place annually on 1 December, is a globally recognised day which honours the millions of people who have died from AIDS-related illnesses.
It is also used to raise awareness of the prevalence of HIV, combat misinformation, and stand in solidarity with people living with the virus.
Last week, an email obtained by journalist Emily Bass, which had been sent to US State Department employees, instructed that they “refrain from publicly promoting World AIDS Day through any communication channels, including social media, media engagements, speeches or other public-facing messaging”.
The email also urged that government resources should not be used to support World AIDS Day events or activities, and noted that the government would not be sharing “messaging on any commemorative days” including World AIDS Day.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott also told The New York Times that “an awareness day is not a strategy”.
“Under the leadership of President Trump, the State Department is working directly with foreign governments to save lives and increase their responsibility and burden sharing,” Pigott said.
Queen of Pop Madonna, who has been a vocal promoter of HIV and AIDS awareness since the start of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, hit out at Trump for the “unthinkable” decision.
“Today is World AIDS Day. For four decades this day has been internationally recognized around the world by people from all walks of life, because millions of people’s lives have been touched by the HIV crisis,” she wrote in a post on Instagram, alongside a black and white selfie.
“People have lost lovers and husbands and wives and girlfriends and boyfriends and mothers and daughters and children to this deadly disease, of which there is still no cure,” she continued.
“Donald Trump has announced that World AIDS Day should no longer be acknowledged. It’s one thing to order federal agents to refrain from commemorating this day, but to ask the general public to pretend it never happened is ridiculous, it’s absurd, it’s unthinkable.”
The “Vogue” hitmaker, 67, stressed that she has lost numerous loved ones to AIDS-related complications – an experience that she doubted Trump has ever endured.
“I bet he’s never watched his best friend die of AIDS, held their hand, and watched the blood drain from their face as they took their last breath at the age of 23,” she wrote.
Madonna’s close friend and early collaborator Martin Burgoyne, who designed the single cover for her 1983 single “Burning Up”, died of AIDS-related complications on 30 November 1986, when he was just 23-years-old.
“The list of people that I have known and loved and lost to AIDS is pretty long,” Madonna continued.
“I’m sure many of you out there can relate. Let me say it one more time – there still isn’t a cure for AIDS, and people still die from it. I refuse to acknowledge that these people have died in vain. And I will continue to honor World AIDS Day, and I hope you will honor it with me.”
Madonna was one of the first global celebrities to speak out about the AIDS crisis, at a time when members of the LGBTQ+ community were dying in their thousands due to the condition.
In the album sleeve for her 1989 album Like A Prayer, she included a factsheet about AIDS.
Her advocacy has extended throughout her four decade career; during her most recent tour, the Celebration Tour, she dedicated a performance of “Live To Tell” to those lost to the illness.
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