Nicki Minaj faces fresh backlash after explaining support for Donald Trump
Topics: Music, Celebrity, Donald Trump, Politics
Rhiannon Ingle
Featured Image Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Topics: Music, Celebrity, Donald Trump, Politics
Nicki Minaj has sparked further backlash online after opening up about why she supports US President Donald Trump.
In a new interview with TIME, published yesterday (13 May), the 43-year-old Trinidadian rapper discussed how she became one of the celebrity figureheads of the MAGA movement, speaking at conservative events, praising the Trump administration on social media and publicly embracing right-wing narratives.
She explained that she had been 'drifting toward Trump's politics for a while' before she shared her views openly over fears of alienating her fanbase.
"I felt that way already about him, just that I didn’t dare act like that publicly," she explained. "It’s been ingrained in everyone’s brain in the music business that we are supposed to be a Democratic family.
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"I just knew they would not like me supporting Trump."
Things changed after her gated $20 million Los Angeles home became the target of numerous swatting calls, which is a criminal harassment tactic where a person makes a hoax call to emergency services to trick them into sending a heavily armed response team to an innocent target's address.
Authorities were not able to identify or arrest anyone connected to the repeated calls.
Minaj, who shares a son born in 2020 with her husband, Kenneth Petty, recalled that the ordeal was 'frightening', particularly for her child.
At the time, the 'Anaconda' star then took to X to ask California Governor Gavin Newsom for help with her situation.
According to Minaj, she requested a meeting through intermediaries but never heard back.
"He just completely ignored me, with all the money I spent in taxes," she claimed.
In April of last year, Minaj suffered another swatting attack, which attracted the attention of Republican Anna Luna.
Luna, a former model and Turning Point USA activist turned Congresswoman, called up Minaj and put her in touch with federal law-enforcement officials and a private security firm.
"I was shocked," Minaj recalled of Luna’s help. "I’d never seen anyone in politics treat me that way."
It was after this that she began considering 'going public as a part of Trump’s MAGA movement', per the outlet.
"That’s what made me say that I don’t care to keep this a secret anymore," Minaj resolved.
After catching light of her comments, fans and critics alike rushed to social media to share their divided opinions.
One X user penned: "Soooooo she’s being entirely selfish and endorsing republicans because it benefits her despite the fact that they are destroying the lives of her fans and the communities that she’s leeched off for her entire career… who’s surprised."
"So what, this justifies her? She’s literally admitting she supported a system because it benefited HER, and she thinks she’s so different from every other republican pls," slammed a second.
A third hit out: "Her going MAGA [...] bcs a governor of 39M residents didn’t personally step in to fix a very specific, high profile harassment case like he’s her customer service rep is top 3 funniest sh*t of all time."
"It doesn’t make sense something so simple could shift her beliefs," declared a fourth.
"She went MAGA because the leader of one of the largest economies in the WORLD didn’t personally step in to fix a very specific problem just for her? The entitlement of celebrities is a cancer on this society," seethed another.
And a final critic echoed: "So she abandoned her morality, went against the better interests of her fanbase and indicated an entire political party all because the governor of her state did not answer to her beck and call like a personal concierge..? Ok."
Others, however, couldn't have disagreed more.
"How y'all mad at her for wanting to ensure her family’s safe..." wondered one fan while a second maintained: "She did what she needed to do!"
A third chirped: "Y'all forgot that Nicki, before she is a rapper, she is a mother! She had to protect her family and put their safety FIRST."
"Good for her!" praised another, and a final fan added: "A mother gotta do whatever she has to do to keep her child safe, and I won’t shame her for it."
Tyla has reached out to Nicki Minaj's representatives for comment.