A video clip of Madonna has been played at Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
Lawyers for the former US president used clips of the Holiday singer as well as actor Johnny Depp at Trump’s trial, where he stands accused of inciting the storming of the US Capitol on 6 January.
If convicted, Trump could be voted by the Senate to be ineligible to run for office again in the future.
During the trial, Trump’s defence lawyer Michael Van der Veen attempted to show that Democrats have used the same kind of provocative language that the former president used ahead of the riots last month.
The video of Madonna was filmed at the Women’s March in 2017, which was held on Trump’s inauguration day and in protest of him taking office given his comments and actions towards women in the past.
In the clip, the pop star says: “Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.”
Madonna later clarified her comments, saying: “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.”
A video of Johnny Depp was also shown, from an appearance at Glastonbury, when the Pirates of the Caribbean actor was told he could do anything, because he was at Glastonbury.
He told the crowd: “Oh thank you. Fuckin’ A. I’m moving here then! Jesus Christ. Can we bring Trump here? I think he needs help… and there are a lot of wonderful dark places he could go. A lot of Doc Martens… It’s just a question… I’m not insinuating anything, but… by the way, this is going to be in the press, and it will be horrible… but I like that you’re all a part of it. When was the last time an actor assassinated a President?”
The actor later apologised for his comments, saying: ‘It did not come out as intended, and I intended no malice. I was only trying to amuse, not to harm anyone.’
After playing the clips, Trump’s lawyer gave his reasoning for showing the footage.
“I did not show you their robust speech to excuse or balance out the speech of my client, for I need not,” he said. “I showed you the video because in this political forum, all robust speech should be protected and it should be protected evenly.”
Trump’s impeachment trial began this week after it was approved by the Senate.