Never in my life did I think I would see Nicki Minaj’s Barbie house go from pink to red. After once saying she would “never jump on the Trump bandwagon” and was admittedly opposed to his anti-immigration politics, Nicki Minaj recently stated at Turning Point USA’s Amerifest convention that Trump and JD Vance both have a “very uncanny ability to be someone that you relate to.”

I don’t know who this “someone” she’s referring to is, but it can’t be the average American citizen. Leading me to think that Minaj, like the rest of us, is finally realizing how much more she has in common with the current administration.

From Trinidad & Tobago to MAGA, USA

Nicki Minaj was once a force to be reckoned with in the hip-hop scene. Whether it was on her own albums/mixtapes, or her incredible feature runs, her Billboard-topping singles solidified her as an artist, and wrote out a Minaj’d version of the “American Dream.” Born in Trinidad & Tobago and raised in Jamaica, Queens, New York, Minaj was once seemingly against Trump’s anti immigration policies and spoke out about the separation of undocumented minors from their parents in a 2018 Instagram post:

“I came to this country as an illegal immigrant @ 5 years old. I can’t imagine the horror of being in a strange place & having my parents stripped away from me at the age of 5. This is so scary to me. Please stop this. Can you try to imagine the terror & panic these kids feel right now? Not knowing if their parents are dead or alive, if they’ll ever see them again…” – Nicki Minaj

We could say that going from statements like this to aligning herself with an administration that creates hateful immigration policies and funds violent organizations like ICE to enforce them is hypocritical. Shocking. Unanticipated. However, it’s actually right on brand with everything MAGA is. Nicki Minaj is no different from the Latinos for Trump crowd or Senator Bernie Moreno. A Colombian immigrant who wants to ban dual citizenship and is introducing a bill that would prohibit any person from simultaneously holding U.S. citizenship and citizenship in another country.

It’s as if the right to pursue happiness, as stated in the U.S. Constitution, is only a right for some and not all. Nicki Minaj has said that she is still, legally, an undocumented immigrant in this country. But now that she’s reached a certain status and has more money than those currently risking their lives to be here, she’s pulling the ladder up from behind her because nothing says homegrown, American MAGA more than xenophobia and individualism.

Chopped

In 2020, Nicki Minaj sat by the Queen of Drag herself, RuPaul, as a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race. The episode alone won in multiple categories at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, and it seemed fitting (at the time) for Nicki Minaj to be a guest judge. After all, throughout her entire career, Minaj has been supported by the LGBTQ community and even pulled out from headlining a concert in Saudi Arabia because of their conservative laws:

“While I want nothing more than to bring my show to fans in Saudi Arabia, after better educating myself on the issues, I believe it is important for me to make clear my support for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community, and freedom of expression.”

Those days are long gone. At the same Amerifest convention hosted by (widow cosplayer), Erica Kirk, Nicki Minaj continued to spew more remarks that drew backlash from a community of people that make up a large percentage of her Barb fandom:

“It’s OK. Be boys,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with being a boy… How powerful is that? How profound is that? Boys will be boys, and there’s nothing wrong with that.” – Nicki Minaj

Following the MAGA manual and urging a return to traditional gender norms, identities, and, whether she hears herself or not, a return to excusing violence. I’ve given up on expecting famous, wealthy people to be in touch with everyday reality, but what’s truly profound is for her to say a phrase that’s long been associated with misogyny, as if manhood or boyhood is being attacked. When really, we’re currently enduring the global crisis that is femicide. More specifically, the fact that the number one cause of death for transgender women is homicide brought about by a male assailant.

The Stiletto Fits

If Nicki Minaj cared about children, she wouldn’t be a supporter of the same administration doing their damnedest to hide the Epstein Files. If she cared about women, the LGBTQ community, Barbz who are veterans, or people who’ve had the same upbringing as her, she wouldn’t be using her platform to spread hate and giggle alongside someone who’s complicit in sending historic progress backwards. She doesn’t care, though, which makes her perfectly suited to the careless, MAGA company she wants to keep.