U2's Adam Clayton says flawed democracy brought Donald Trump to power

Updated
The Stubhub Q Awards 2016 - Drinks Reception
The Stubhub Q Awards 2016 - Drinks Reception

U2 bassist Adam Clayton has questioned US President-elect Donald Trump's integrity.

As the band announced a world tour of their 30-year-old album The Joshua Tree, they drew comparisons between the politics of the mid-1980s and now.

"I think it's fair to say the process of democracy that has brought Donald Trump to the presidency seems flawed," Clayton said.

He raised concerns about President-elect Trump's attitude to the media during the election campaign and lingering questions about his tax returns.

"All these things added up to a situation where you question is he really the right person to lead the country and whether he actually represents the constituency he claims to represent, because he doesn't have a history of philanthropy," he said.

Clayton added: "He definitely won it fair and square. The question is his integrity."

Speaking from his home in Rathfarnham, Dublin, where The Joshua Tree was recorded, Clayton told Irish state broadcaster RTE Radio that it was unlikely U2 would forge close relations with the new White House administration.

"It's dangerous when you have a president or incoming president that effects where business set up their factories by tweeting about it in the early hours of the morning. That does not seem to be part of the democratic process," Clayton said.

U2 plan to play the Joshua Tree in its entirety in the tour beginning in May in Vancouver and covering 16 US cities before moving to Europe. They will combine it with other older songs and new music they have recorded.

The band will also take to the stage in Twickenham in London on July 8 and Croke Park in Dublin on July 22, with tickets on sale on January 16.

Bono said: "Recently I listened back to The Joshua Tree for the first time in nearly 30 years - it's quite an opera.

"A lot of emotions which feel strangely current, love, loss, broken dreams, seeking oblivion, polarisation, all the greats. I've sung some of these songs a lot but never all of them.

"I'm up for it, if our audience is as excited as we are. It's gonna be a great night. Especially when we play at home. Croke Park, it's where the album was born, 30 years ago."

The Edge said: "It seems like we have come full circle from when The Joshua Tree songs were originally written, with global upheaval, extreme right wing politics and some fundamental human rights at risk."

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