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Singer Madonna attacked President Donald Trump for no longer commemorating World AIDS Day Monday.
Madonna referenced the day in an Instagram post and remarked that the Trump administration did not promote the day, the first time the U.S. did not commemorate World AIDS Day since it was established in 1988.
“Donald Trump has announced that World AIDS Day should no longer be acknowledged,” Madonna wrote. “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.”
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She added, “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. Let me say 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.”
News outlets reported days earlier that the U.S. State Department would no longer acknowledge World AIDS Day, a decision the State Department later defended in a statement.
“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,” State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said. “Earlier this year, we released a global health strategy aimed at streamlining America’s foreign assistance and modernizing our approach to countering infectious diseases.”
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In an earlier comment to Fox News Digital, White House spokesman Kush Desai described continuing efforts by the Trump administration to combat AIDS.
“The State Department is working directly with foreign governments to implement a global health strategy to streamline America’s foreign assistance and modernize our approach to countering infectious diseases like HIV,” Desai said.
He continued, “HHS, meanwhile, is advancing next-generation HIV prevention and treatment options, strengthening viral suppression nationwide via HRSA’s Ryan White program, supporting emergency preparedness, and expanding access to trusted HIV information.”
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under the Trump administration, also approved in June a new, twice-yearly shot from Gilead Sciences, a U.S. private sector biopharmaceutical company, to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. The shot was nearly 100% effective in preventing the spread of HIV in clinical trials and was shown to be superior to past drugs.
Trump has previously stated his goal of eradicating the disease by 2030, announcing an initiative to end HIV during his first term in 2019.
However, the Trump administration has also sought to cut funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in the president’s original rescissions package back in July. Senate Republicans later agreed to preserve PEPFAR funding.
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