Nicki Minaj is full of praise: She has “the greatest respect for our president,” and his entire government is made up of people “with heart and soul.” This refers to American President Donald Trump and his employees.
The rapper, who lives in the USA, appeared at a conference of the right-wing populist youth organization Turning Point USA at the weekend. There she spoke on stage with Erika Kirk, the widow of activist Charlie Kirk, who was murdered in September. While she said of Trump that he gave people hope that there was “a chance to beat the bad people,” she criticized California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, for his support of trans children. She called him things like “Newscum” and “Gavie-poo.” However, she called Trump and his deputy JD Vance “great role models” for young men.
“Island girl, Donald Trump wants me to go home”
The comments caused a stir because they showed the 43-year-old rapper’s change of heart. During Trump’s first term in office, she criticized him in clear terms. Shortly after the November 2016 election, she rapped in the song “Black Barbies”: “Island girl, Donald Trump wants me to go home.” Minaj was born in Trinidad and Tobago. According to her own statements, her parents, who had a valid residence permit, brought her illegally to the USA as a child. In 2018, she expressed dismay on Instagram about the Trump administration’s temporary practice of separating children of illegal immigrants from their parents at the Mexican border. “I can hardly imagine the horror of being in a strange place and separated from my parents,” she wrote at the time. “This has to be stopped.” In 2020, Minaj assured at the Pollstar Live 2020 Conference that she would not jump on the Trump bandwagon.
Most recently, Minaj was noticed with different sounds: This year she shared a Tiktok video of the White House that was accompanied by her song “Va Va Voom”. The clip says, among other things, about Trump: “A president who prioritizes Americans, no men in women’s sports, the borders are closed, our cities are safer than ever, criminal illegals are being deported, gas prices are low, world peace.” In November, she publicly supported Trump’s comments about Nigeria, saying a genocide of Christians was taking place there.
With her appearance at Turning Point USA, Minaj has finally arrived in Trump’s MAGA movement for many observers and fans. While she received a lot of applause at the conference, there was also a lot of criticism on social media. “Your career is so over,” said a comment on her Tiktok account that was liked thousands of times.
A clip of Charlie Kirk was also widely shared in which he was critical of Minaj: “Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, they are not good role models for young black women.” As American media report, the clip is from spring 2024, Kirk specifically refers to sexually explicit lyrics below, the song he named as an example comes from Cardi B. However, this should no longer play a role for the MAGA movement given Minaj’s support.
