Four ‘wow’ moments from Nicki Minaj and Erika Kirk’s Turning Point USA Q&A
Erika Kirk and Nicki Minaj appeared together at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest (Caylo Seals/Getty Images)
Erika Kirk and Nicki Minaj appeared together at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest (Caylo Seals/Getty Images)
Rapper Nicki Minaj threw her full support behind Donald Trump and his Republican administration during an appearance at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, alongside Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk.
The four-day conservative conference, which took place in Arizona over the weekend, is Turning Point USA’s first annual summit since the death of Charlie Kirk in September and was billed as “a powerful celebration of faith, freedom, and the legacy of our founder”.
Kirk, who was known for his controversial views on topics like abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, was holding one of his open-air debates at Utah Valley University on 10 September when he was shot in the neck. He died in hospital later that day.
Following a large-scale manhunt, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson was subsequently arrested and charged with Kirk’s murder.
On Sunday (21 December) – on the final day of AmericaFest – Minaj, 43, made a surprise appearance at the event and walked onto the stage hand-in-hand with Erika Kirk, 37, who is now CEO of Turning Point USA following her husband’s death.
The pair discussed the rapper’s support for Trump and her online feud with California governor Gavin Newsom, but her appearance also saw a very awkward faux pas when she described JD Vance as an “assassin” in front of Kirk.
Here are the four key takeaways from her appearance at the event.
“It’s ok to change your mind”
Minaj went public with her support for Trump back in November when she posted a screenshot of a statement Trump had shared on his own social media platform Truth Social in which he voiced concerns about the “existential threat” faced by Christians in Nigeria.
“Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter,” he wrote at the time, adding that Nigeria would be noted as a “Country of Particular Concern” by the United States.
Minaj shared this post and said she felt “a deep sense of gratitude” for Donald Trump for “taking this seriously”, adding: “No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion. We don’t have to share the same beliefs in order for us to respect each other.
“Numerous countries all around the world are being affected by this horror and it’s dangerous to pretend we don’t notice.”
However, a spokesperson for Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said “there is no Christian genocide in Nigeria”.
Minaj’s support for Trump has come as a surprise to many given Minaj’s previous critique of Trump, and it has also resulted in her receiving significant criticism from her LGBTQ+ fanbase, particularly because of the Trump administration’s various anti-LGBTQ+ policies.
When asked by Kirk if there is “something that you want to leave as a legacy in this world for your family, for your baby, for just everything,” Minaj replied: “That it’s okay to change your mind.”
“There’s sometimes there’s a lot of things projected onto you when you change your own mind,” Minaj said.
“You know, they project fear, shame, onto people who don’t think and do as they think and do. But I’ve performed for huge crowds all around the world, and no matter how many songs I do on that stage, it didn’t mean as much as this. Because this is a direct link for younger people. This is a direct link between young people and God, and there’s been a lack of that in our media, in our everyday conversations.”
Minaj was “tired of being pushed around”
Minaj was asked by Kirk about her decision to come out and support Trump, and Minaj explained: “I just got tired of being pushed around.”
“I have something inside of me that’s stronger than what’s out there,” Minaj said.
“So when you’ve had enough, you realise, ‘Wait a minute, why do I even care about these people and what they think? Who are they?’
“They don’t even know who they are. So I’m not going to back down anymore. I’m not going to back down ever again.”
Trump is “handsome” and MAGA are the “cool kids”
During the discussion, Minaj heaped praise on Trump and the MAGA movement.
She expressed her “respect and admiration” for “the handsome, dashing” Trump and said of the backlash she has had for her now-right leaning views: “I didn’t notice… We don’t even think about them… We’re the cool kids. The other people, they’re the ones who are disgruntled, but really they’re just disgruntled with themselves.”
Minaj also described the Trump administration as “full of people with heart and soul”, adding “they make me proud of them”.
“Our vice president, he makes me … well, I love both of them,” she said. “Both of them have a very uncanny ability to be someone that you relate to.”
The saccharine comments are a stark contrast to criticism Minaj previously shared around Trump’s immigration policies.
Back in 2018, Minaj spoke out against Trump zero-tolerance immigration policy which saw thousands of families – including young children and parents – separated at the Mexico-US border.
In a social media post calling out the policy, in which shared an image of young children in a detention facility, Minaj recounted her own experience of arriving in the US at the age of five and described herself as an “illegal immigrant”.
“I can’t imagine the horror of being in a strange place and having my parents stripped away from me at the age of five,” she wrote at the time. “This is so scary to me. Please stop this. Can you try to imagine the terror and panic these kids feel right now?”
Things got awkward fast
During the discussion, things got pretty awkward when Minaj described vice president JD Vance as an “assassin” in front of Kirk – whose husband was cut down by a literal assassin just three-and-half months ago.
The comment came when Kirk asked Minaj what advice she has for young men.
“Don’t be Newscum,” Minaj began.
“Young men, you have amazing role models like our handsome, dashing president, and you have amazing role models like the assassin JD Vance, our vice president. And when I say that…” Minaj then trailed off into uncharacteristic silence, realising what she had said.
After a long moment of silence, Kirk sought to continue the discussion by brushing the remark under the rug.
“Trust me, there’s nothing new under the sun that I have not heard. So you’re fine,” Kirk told the rapper.
“You have to laugh about it, truly. I have been called every single thing, and you know what? God is so good. You let it roll right off your back and this is what’s so beautiful about this moment, because if the internet wants to clip it, who cares?
“I love Nicki. She’s an amazing woman. She has a soul and a heart for the Lord. And words are words, but I know her heart and it doesn’t even matter. And you say what you want to say, because I know your heart and I will not judge that, sister.”
