Bob Geldof doesn’t waste time in mincing his words when it comes to Donald Trump.
Delivering a speech to young people at summit in Canada on Wednesday evening, he said: “We’re tired. We’re so tired, aren’t we? Everything seems so complex. Nothing seems to work. And the politicians, leaders and experts are not to be trusted or believed.
“And so, let us give up on belief. Let us surrender to the post-truth politicians.
“Those reality television actors, the Trumps, the Putins, the Erdogans, the Brexiters and all who resile from responsible solutions to puerile simplicity,” Geldof told the One Young World delegates in Ottawa.
“There’s a pop song I like that asks the thrilling and wise question, ‘what’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?’ We must not succumb to the fools. We must not be galled by the awful thuggish-ness of Putin, Erdogan, Xi or Trump, or the many other commanders of the armies of stupidity.”
He concluded: “So this year, please, someone answer the question that is so simply put in that pop song, and that I ask you to answer in the coming days: ‘what is so funny about peace, love and understanding?’”
One Young World is a global movement that hosts an annual Summit to offer a platform for young leaders to network with peers from across the world, sharing ideas to develop solutions to address urgent global issues.