Madonna has called out U.S. President Donald Trump for not acknowledging World AIDS Day.
In a statement recently issued to CNN, U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, confirmed that the government wouldn’t be commemorating the international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.
However, Pigott emphasised that the administration was “working directly with foreign governments to save lives and increase their responsibility and burden sharing”.
Following the update, Madonna took to Instagram on Monday to blast Trump and his administration over the move.
“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 began. “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.”
The Hung Up hitmaker went on to urge Trump and other politicians to do more to support researchers.
“Donald Trump has announced that World AIDS Day should no longer be acknowledged,” the 67-year-old continued. “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. 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.”
And to conclude the post, Madonna noted that she has lost many friends to AIDS over the years.
“The list of people that I have known and loved and lost to AIDS is pretty long. I’m sure many of you out there can relate,” she added. “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.”
World AIDS Day has been marked on 1 December around the world every year since 1988.
Trump, 79, has not yet responded to Madonna’s comments.
