INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

U2 And Bono Give Shoutout To Steve Scalise [Video]

By Robert Jonathan
Published on: 04:26 PST, Jun 22, 2017

U2 frontman Bono passed along his best wishes to U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise during a concert Tuesday night at FedEx Field in the D.C. suburb of Landover, Maryland.

On June 14, a Bernie Sanders supporter shot the Louisiana congressman on a softball field in Alexandria, Virginia. Two Capitol Hill police officers neutralized the gunman; otherwise, it is likely that more harm would have befallen the large group of GOP lawmakers and staffers present who were practicing for a charity game. After multiple surgeries, MedStar Washington Hospital Center authorities have upgraded Scalise’s condition to fair, and he is said to be on the road to recovery.

U2 is finishing up the first leg of its “Joshua Tree Tour 2017” before heading off to Europe. The band will resume touring in the U.S. in the fall. The tour is in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the band’s hit 1987 album of the same name.

While on stage, Bono took a moment to honor Rep. Scalise in the venue that is also home to the NFL Washington Redskins, the Washington Examiner reported.

“You’ve been through some troubling days here on the shooting in Alexandria. We are so grateful Congressman Scalise and his comrades made it through. So grateful. We hold them up…as love holds us all up.”

Scalise’s Twitter feed thanked U2 and Bono for the shoutout.

Related stories:

While many in the entertainment community, especially recently, have used their platforms to aggressively condemn Republicans, and President Trump in particular, Bono instead conveyed a message of tolerance, according to Daily Caller editor Katie Frates.

“Whoever you voted for, you are welcome here. We will find common ground.”

Bono is well known for leading philanthropic initiatives that are fighting poverty and disease, particularly in Africa. He also may or may not be the world’s wealthiest musician as a result of his investment in the Facebook IPO.

Among other ventures, the U2 lead singer heads the charity organization ONE, which takes up social causes all over the globe and has enlisted world leaders in these efforts.

With that in mind perhaps, Bono visited Steve Scalise’s Capitol Hill office on Wednesday as part of an effort to encourage lawmakers to continue to fully fund the U.S. foreign aid budget, ABC News noted. While there, he signed a get-well card for Scalise and for the two officers who were wounded while fending off the attack.

Although he is generally considered to be on the left of the political spectrum, Bono has praised George W. Bush for his initiatives to fight AIDS in Africa and has developed a friendship with the ex-president.

Back in 2012, Bono raised eyebrows among the liberal cohort by declaring that capitalism and entrepreneurship are the most effective means of lifting people around the world out of poverty.

Bono’s band U2 has grossed $62 million through the first four weeks of the tour, according to Billboard.

[Featured Image by Amy Harris/Invision/AP Images]

Share this article: U2 And Bono Give Shoutout To Steve Scalise [Video]
bono u2
More from Inquisitr