Madonna ‘Ought To Be Arrested,’ Says Newt Gingrich
Former House Speaker and Donald Trump adviser Newt Gingrich condemned Madonna on Monday, saying she “ought to be arrested” after her recent speech at the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. During that address, the singer said, “I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.”
This drew a harsh rebuke from Gingrich. “She is parallel to the young fascists who ran around town breaking windows, all of whom should be given the maximum sentence,” he declared during an interview with Fox & Friends. “What you have is an emerging left-wing fascism. She’s part of it, and I think we have to be prepared to protect ourselves.”
Gingrich’s comments expand on those from White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. “One of the singers said she wanted to blow up the White House,” Priebus told Fox on Sunday. “I mean, can you imagine saying that about President Obama?”
Madonna addressed the conservative outrage over her comments in an Instagram post on Sunday, clarifying her position. “I am not a violent person, I do not promote violence and it’s important people hear and understand my speech in its entirety rather than one phrase taken wildly out of context,” she wrote.
“I know that acting out of anger doesn’t solve anything,” she continued. “And the only way to change things for the better is to do it with love.”
Gingrich refused to accept the singer’s explanation on Monday. “I love the left,” he said sarcastically on Fox & Friends before launching into a confusing dismissal of Madonna’s attempt at clarification. “When they say, ‘I dreamed about blowing up the White House,’ they didn’t mean, ‘I dreamed about blowing up the White House,'” he explained. “They actually meant, ‘the yellow purple banana,’ but they didn’t want to say, ‘the yellow purple banana’ ’cause it was too shocking. Give me a break.”
Reps for Gingrich and the singer did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Watch Madonna talk Donald Trump, art and activism at the Brooklyn Museum.
.@newtgingrich: Madonna ought to be arrested for saying she thought about blowing up the White House pic.twitter.com/5LCz4y7o0O
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