Bono and David Letterman

On Monday's Late Show with David Letterman, U2's Bono gave President George W. Bush credit for helping to save millions of lives in Africa.

Poor Letterman.

That had to hurt, hearing Bono, the great humanitarian, praise President Bush.

Here's video of the full episode.

Transcript, from NewsBusters:

DAVID LETTERMAN: Now, listen, from time to time - not time to time, every darn day - you hear things about Africa, and, sadly, you don’t hear much good about Africa. And, recently, I heard that because of a 20-year drought, the Cape of Africa, like 10 or 15 million people, are gonna be without food here, like they don’t have enough problems in Africa. Tell me about your efforts and how they have affected that continent.

BONO: You know, actually, yes, there is tragedy in Africa, and you will always find it there, and we must take those tragedies seriously, but there is also extraordinary opportunity. And if you see this continent as the continent of the future, it sort of reframes it. I mean, this is, this is a continent that, by 2050, will be the largest continent, the youngest continent in the world. It’s very rich, you know. Under the ground, they have a lot of great minerals. They have some tough stuff to do, and, but they do, they get their fair share of difficulties to overcome, but I will say this: This week, we just hit the five million mark, the United States saving five million lives, people who are suffering from AIDS and now have anti-retroviral drugs because of the United States, because that’s who you are, and you’ve done an amazing thing. And so, when people get organized, get busy, things change, and that is an amazing - five million lives have been saved over the last, in eight years, in eight years.

(AUDIENCE APPLAUSE)

LETTERMAN: And would this have - and it’s impossible for you to acknowledge this one way or the other - but without your efforts, would this have been accomplished, do you think? Would somebody else have stepped up?

BONO: I’d like to believe that the American people have that sort of in them, and, but it was an interesting, it was an unusual combination of people on the left and the right got together, organization’s called One because it’s the one thing people on the left and the right can agree with. And President Bush, you know, whom, you know, you might have arguments with on various levels, he actually led this and he deserves some credit for this.

It wasn't all talk on Monday's show.

Here's Bono and The Edge discussing and performing a little bit of "Stuck In a Moment":