Madonna Clarifies ‘Out of Context’ Remark From Women’s March
Madonna has clarified a portion of her powerful Women’s March on Washington speech after it was misconstrued as a violent threat toward President Donald Trump.
During her speech Saturday, Madonna said, “Yes, I’m angry. Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House. But I know this won’t change anything. We cannot fall into despair.” It was the “blowing up the White House” line that drew the ire of conservative websites and Trump’s administration.
“One of the singers said she wanted to blow up the White House. I mean, can you imagine saying that about President Obama,” White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus told Fox News Sunday.
In an Instagram post Sunday following the “amazing and beautiful experience,” Madonna explained, “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.”
Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway also criticized Madonna, saying the singer should have given some of her “hundreds of millions” to building a women’s shelter instead of hurling “profanity-laced insults” and making threats. Conway also insinuated that the Secret Service might investigate Madonna for the “blowing up the White House” comment.
However, the singer added on Instagram, “I spoke in metaphor and I shared two ways of looking at things — one was to be hopeful, and one was to feel anger and outrage, which I have personally felt. However, I know that acting out of anger doesn’t solve anything. And the only way to change things for the better is to do it with love. It was truly an honor to be part of an audience chanting ‘we choose love.'”