U2 frontman Bono just called PM Orbán the Devil’s friend
It seems as though the whole world is concerned with the current political situation in Hungary, as the lead singer of U2, Bono, heavily criticised Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán during a concert a couple of days ago – Heti Világgazdaság writes.
U2 gave a concert in Madrid on the 20th of September, during which, Bono ‘put on’ his iconic MacPhisto mask (MacPhisto is a highly cynical and ironic character intended to resemble the Devil, created in the 1990s) and listed the most emblematic far-right leaders of Europe, referring to them as his new friends.
At 1:38 you can catch MacPhisto saying the following:
But MacPhisto is bored with that now. He’s got new pals: from Hungary, Viktor Orbán, from Sweden, Jimmie Åkesson, from France, Marie Le Pen. Anyway, MacPhisto’s got a new game, it’s called Zooropa. A game he intends to win. Vote MacPhisto for Europe, or to Hell with you. And remember Madrid: it’s when you don’t believe that I exist, that’s when I do my best.
However, this was not the first time that Bono criticised Orbán or other Hungarian presidents, and he is not the only one to do so either.
Bono’s first attempt at mocking Hungarian politicians using the MacPhisto persona was in 1993 during the last U2 concert in Budapest, when he phoned Gyula Thürmer, the president of the Hungarian Workers’ Party. Thürmer did not pick up, however, so MacPhisto’s thoughtful message (‘I just called to say I love you’) to the president went to voicemail.
In 2016, Bono attacked the Hungarian government again. Inside-Poland reported about the incident in 2016, writing that
Bono named Hungary and Poland as examples of dangerous ‘hyper-nationalism’, posing an ‘existential threat’ to Europe
in front of the Senate Appropriation Subcommittee at Capitol Hill, during a hearing focusing on violent extremism.
Another person to have a strong opinion about Viktor Orbán is a fellow musician, Roger Waters, member of the legendary band Pink Floyd. As part of his Budapest show on May 3 earlier this year, he addressed the issue of a trustworthy and transparent government, claiming that the Hungarian government cannot be trusted – wrote 24.hu.
Not much later, during his St. Petersburg concert Waters listed the Neo-Fascist leaders all across the globe, naming Donald Trump as the first and Viktor Orbán as the second.
featured image: wikicommons – Peter Neill
Source: hvg.hu