After announcing to the Senate that, “This is not whataboutism,” Donald Trump‘s impeachment lawyer Michael van der Veen opened up his bizarre defense of the former president by showing a video of Madonna and other celebrities using seemingly violent rhetoric about Trump, which for the record, is the very definition of whataboutism. The random celebrity video was one of many surreal moments during Friday’s trial where the president’s legal team know that he won’t be convicted by Republican senators, but there is still a concern about the “PR nightmare” that faces both Trump and the GOP in the aftermath of the attack on the Capitol building.
One of the clips showed Madonna’s infamous remarks at the 2017 Women’s March where she says, “I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.” However, van der Veen’s selectively edited clip didn’t include Madonna’s full quote. Via Mediaite:
“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.”
Unlike Trump, Madonna immediately clarified her remarks and made it clear that she’s “not a violent person” and “I do not promote violence.” But that’s getting away from the larger point of what the heck does Madonna have to do with Trump’s impeachment, which led to several jokes about the former president’s legal strategy and calls to “Impeach Madonna!”
senate Republicans finally found someone they have the courage to convict: Madonna.
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) February 12, 2021
Madonna inciting violence against the government pic.twitter.com/Q9DKmV2qrc
— Declan Cashin (@Tweet_Dec) February 12, 2021
Go ahead and make Madonna jokes, but if Madge told lies that led to 7 people getting killed at least she’d be able to afford a real defense team.
— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) February 12, 2021
Trump’s attorneys have now twice shown a clip of Madonna advocating violence against Trump. Will *she* be impeached??
— Philip Bump (@pbump) February 12, 2021
Trump will go down as the only person to ever try the impeachment defense of “Madonna isn’t perfect either”
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) February 12, 2021
Johnny Depp also made an appearance in the video for Trump’s defense thanks to him joking at the 2017 Glastonbury Music Festival, “When was the last time an actor assassinated a president?” Trump’s legal team failed to note that Depp was condemned by both Republicans and Democrats for the quip, and they also earned another round of scorn for trying to downplay Trump’s incitement of the Capitol attack.
Hadn’t considered that this slippery slope could lead to Johnny Depp’s impeachment, might have to reconsider
— Jon Campbell (@j0ncampbell) February 12, 2021
Ok, they’ve finally convinced me. Johnny Depp and Madonna should be removed from office.
— It’s James and the Awful Truth (@TweetFiction) February 12, 2021
Trump’s turdwit lawyer just pulled Johnny Depp’s name out of ass. Now we’re getting to the good stuff–The Depp State Conspiracy.
— Bjorn Again Borg
(@mrFawkes51) February 12, 2021
I wish the Dems could get control of Johnny Depp already.
— Brad Feldman (@BradFeldman_) February 12, 2021
“You know, including Johnny Depp and Madonna might undermine this bad faith argument,” – No one on the president’s team, apparently
— Jackie Kucinich (@JFKucinich) February 12, 2021
(Via Mediaite)