Pop singer Madonna defended her bold remarks she made at Saturday’s Women’s March in the country’s capital, saying she spoke metaphorically and meant no violence.
About a half million people, many wearing pink knit hats in a show of solidarity and support for women’s rights, showed up for Women’s March in Washington, D. C.
Madonna who spoke and performed at the march was quoted by local media as saying that she thought about “blowing up the White House.”
“Yes, I’m angry. Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House, but I know that this won’t change anything. We cannot fall into despair,” her line goes.
Madonna took to Instagram on Sunday to defend her comments, “I want to clarify some very important things. I am not a violent person, I do not promote violence and it’s important people hear and understand my speech in it’s entirety rather than one phrase taken wildly out of context,” she wrote.
“I spoke in metaphor,” the 58-year-old pop diva added. “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.”
Her words drew immediate criticism on social media. Instagram user “fertues” commented below Madonna’s post that “Your little ‘speech’ wasn’t about love girl… you have lost a lot of your fan base. Shame on you!”
Newly-inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump responded to the march on Twitter Sunday morning, accusing the marchers of not voting and adding more criticism to the celebrities who attended.
“Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn’t these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly,” Trump tweeted.
“Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don’t always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views,” Trump said in a separate tweet later.
According to a White House official’s statement obtained by NBC News, “Comments like these are absolutely unacceptable and had they been said about President Obama, the mainstream media would be in an uproar.”
“The Trump administration welcomes a robust discussion regarding the critical issues facing America’s women and families,” the official added. Brandishing signs that read “women’s rights are human rights” and “Hear our voice,” the protesters from across the country marched slowly along major avenues in downtown Washington as they chanted “this is what democracy looks like” and “women and girls can change the world,” in a powerful display of rejection of Trump’s agenda and what they said his insulting attitudes towards women.
Trump’s controversial comments in a 2005 video, in which he declared that women would allow him to grope them without their consent, had outraged many women across the country.
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