Nicki Minaj is facing a wave of backlash from her own fanbase after publicly praising President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance during a high-profile appearance at a conservative conference—prompting some longtime supporters to question whether the rapper has permanently severed ties with the audience that helped build her career.
“Has she lost her mind?” one fan wrote bluntly, while another declared, “She ruined her legacy so fast.” Others were more stunned than angry, responding with little more than “Eeeeeeyikes!” Still, a smaller faction pushed back against calls for cancellation, arguing that Minaj’s personal politics would not stop them from listening to the music they grew up with. But the dominant tone online was unforgiving. “If ever there was a time to cancel someone, it is now,” one commenter wrote, as others urged fans to stop streaming her music altogether.
The backlash intensified after Minaj appeared onstage Dec. 21 at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, where she participated in a fireside chat with Erika Kirk, widow of the late Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk. During the conversation, Minaj praised Trump and Vance as “down to earth,” “relatable,” and “one of us,” commending what she described as their integrity and resilience.
“I have the utmost respect and admiration for our president,” Minaj said, adding that Trump had given people hope that “there’s a chance to beat the bad guys and to win and to do it with your head held high and your integrity intact.” She also praised what she called the administration’s “heart and soul,” saying she loved both Trump and Vance and found them personally relatable.
Clips from the appearance quickly circulated online, drawing sharp criticism from fans and commentators who argued that Minaj’s wealth and celebrity status had insulated her from the real-world consequences of the policies she appeared to endorse. “Calling Trump and JD Vance ‘down to earth’ tells me everything I need to know about how far celebrity wealth can detach someone from reality,” one viral post read. Another declared that Minaj had “crossed a line she can never come back from.”
Minaj, 43, framed her decision to speak openly about her political views as an act of defiance against public pressure. “I just got tired of being pushed around,” she said during the interview. “When you’ve had enough, you realize, ‘Why do I even care what these people think?’ I’m not going to back down ever again.”
The moment is the latest—and most visible—chapter in a political transformation that has stunned many fans, particularly within the LGBTQ community. Minaj, once vocal in condemning Trump-era immigration policies and celebrating Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, has in recent years increasingly aligned herself with MAGA talking points. She has mocked Democratic leaders, including Governor Gavin Newsom, echoed Republican messaging on transgender youth, and become an unlikely favorite among conservative influencers.
The controversy has also reignited criticism over Minaj’s recent decision to repost a White House TikTok praising Trump’s second-term policies—set to her own song “Va Va Voom”—that highlighted measures such as banning trans women and girls from women’s sports and rolling back diversity and inclusion programs. Critics accused her of amplifying xenophobic and transphobic rhetoric, noting the contradiction between her support for hardline immigration policies and her own history as an undocumented immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago.
During Trump’s first term, Minaj spoke out against family separations at the U.S.–Mexico border, invoking her own childhood immigration story. That history has made her current stance especially jarring for fans who once viewed her as an ally—or at least an artist who understood their lived experiences.
Now, as social media fills with calls to boycott her music and reassess her legacy, Minaj has emerged as a cultural lightning rod—no longer just a rap superstar, but a polarizing political figure whose evolution has forced fans to confront whether they can separate the art from the artist in an increasingly charged political moment.