WASHINGTON 鈥� The White House responded Sunday morning to the聽heavy turnout for Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington.
A Trump administration official :
“It’s a shame that the March for Life, which estimates the same number of marchers in DC (650,000 in 2013) and will be happening next Friday, will not get anywhere near the same amount of coverage that this march got 鈥� and those pro-life members were NOT welcome at the Women鈥檚 March. The organizers noted that their platform is pro-choice and they revoked partnership status from pro-life groups.
听“Madonna, who was one of the celebrities headlining the march, was quoted saying ‘Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House’ 鈥� 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鈥檚 women and families.”
(The White House statement omitted聽the rest of Madonna’s comment, which continued: “But I know that this won’t change anything. We cannot fall into despair.”)
Via his personal Twitter feed, President Trump 聽Sunday morning: “Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn’t these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly.”
Roughly聽an hour later, he tweeted a about the march, as well as the several related marches around the world that were held Saturday: “Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don鈥檛 always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views.鈥�
The statements follow a tense press briefing Saturday in which new press secretary . The president himself offered similar criticism during remarks to the CIA.
An estimated half-million filled the National Mall on Saturday, according to D.C. officials.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
