Who says only Democrats get to make friends with rock stars?

Not former President George W. Bush, who opened his new library in Dallas last week and described Bono as a “pal” in an interview.

Bush II sat for a chat with Fox News last week and also called the U2 star “the real deal,” but he admitted that both he and Bono were leery of each other when they first came together to talk strategy in relation to poverty and disease in Africa, issues that Bono has worked on for decades.

“He was skeptical of me and frankly I was skeptical of him. And we became pals because we shared a common desire to help others on the continent of Africa.  Bono’s the real deal,” Bush admitted.

During Bush’s eight years in office he and Bono met several times and definitely seemed to form a bond. And Bono, to his credit, has never been shy about saying so, even though many of his colleagues in the world of entertainment would surely disagree.

“If George Bush was here — I know his daughter Barbara is here — I would get Matt Damon to kiss him on the lips and I would give him a more sort of Irish macho handshake kind of a thing,” Bono said at an event in Georgetown University last November.

“It’s incredible, it’s incredible what George Bush’s — President Bush’s — name is in the history books. His name is in the front foreword of a book that’s written on the end of AIDS.”