00:00Rapper Nicki Minaj is getting attention for comments that some say sound a lot like she's aligning with President Donald Trump, but her political footprint has never been simple, so we're taking a look.
00:14At the end of October, President Trump posted on Truth Social saying that Christianity faces what he calls an existential threat in Nigeria.
00:23Posting a screenshot of the post on X, Minaj wrote, thank you to the president and his team for taking this seriously.
00:31God bless every persecuted Christian.
00:34United Nations Ambassador Mike Waltz thanked Minaj for speaking up for the Christians who have been killed in Nigeria and invited her to visit the U.S. Embassy to the U.N. in New York, to which Minaj replied she'd be honored.
00:47Many people thought the exchange was surprising because taking a look back at her involvement in politics paints a different picture.
00:56I'm a Republican voting for Mitt Romney.
01:00In 2012, the rapper name-dropped Mitt Romney in a song, but later clarified her stance after former President Barack Obama was asked about it on a radio station.
01:10But she likes to play different characters.
01:13Yes, that was probably Roman who did it.
01:16So I don't know what's going on there.
01:19In a now-deleted X post, she wrote at the time, thank you for understanding my creative humor and sarcasm, Mr. President.
01:27The smart ones always do.
01:28And sent her love and support to Obama.
01:31In 2016, she posted, met with President Obama today to discuss a few things that happened to be very dear to my heart.
01:38Fast forward to 2018, Minaj endorsed New York's Andrew Cuomo, Kathy Hochul, and Letitia James, all of them Democrats.
01:46She wrote, see you at the polls.
01:49Minaj was born in Trinidad and Tobago, and after many years of people speculating about her nationality, she confirmed last year that she is not a U.S. citizen, meaning she cannot vote despite years of endorsements.
02:01She said she feels she deserves citizenship because of the millions of dollars she's paid in U.S. taxes.
02:09And critics say her Republican-aligned rollout is still underway.
02:14Minaj recently reposted a TikTok from the official White House page that used one of her songs, where the video claimed 2025 has been Trump's year of prioritizing no-men-and-women sports, closed borders, and deportations.
02:27Some critics speculate Minaj may be aligning with Trump to avoid deportation or to seek a pardon for her husband, who has a criminal record, including an attempted rape conviction and failure to register as a sex offender.
02:41Minaj herself was recently dropped from a related civil lawsuit after that victim alleged harassment.
02:47But others are criticizing Minaj's White House reposts because many of her fans are members of the LGBTQ plus community, some expressing disappointment.
02:56She has previously advocated for the community, including pulling out of a performance in Saudi Arabia in 2019 over LGBTQ and women's rights concerns.
03:07But Minaj isn't the only musician who has shifted politically.
03:11George Bush doesn't care about Black people.
03:15In 2005, Kanye West made that now-famous statement during a telethon for Hurricane Katrina.
03:22By 2012, he donated to Obama, then to the DNC in 2014, and to Hillary Clinton in 2015, according to campaign finance documents.
03:32But just a year later, he said if he had voted that year, he would have voted for Trump.
03:38He met with Trump at Trump Tower in 2016, and soon after started appearing publicly in MAGA gear.
03:44There may not be many musical artists who have made that same shift, but other public figures have moved in the opposite direction.
03:52People who once supported Trump and now regret it or have spoken out against him.
03:57Caitlyn Jenner endorsed Trump in 2016, but wrote in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed that she was wrong about him and no longer supports him.
04:06And Roseanne Barr, who previously appeared at a Trump rally in 2023, criticizing him this summer over releasing documents from the Jeffrey Epstein case, telling him to, quote, read the room.
04:18The reasons always differ, whether it's a policy disagreement, a shift in values, or just public pressure.
04:24As for Nicki Minaj, she says she'll be speaking at an event hosted by Ambassador Waltz on Tuesday, focused on the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
Be the first to comment