To quote Olay Boleware, “It is a big year for Nicki Minaj haters.”
Minaj’s descent into MAGA came after a series of glaring red flags that became harder to ignore as the years went by.
Maybe this is who she’s always been. Maybe she’s angling for political favors. Two things can be true.
No matter her motives, she’s now hurling homophobic epithets at journalist Don Lemon. What happened?
ICE collaborators are getting protested
On Sunday, January 18, Don Lemon — formerly of CNN and now an independent reporter — covered one of countless anti-ICE protests.
He spoke to a reverend who helped lead the protest, who explained why they were protesting at a particular church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
According to numerous media outlets, the pastor of Cities Church has ties to ICE.
As you can see in the video, protesters are calling to end the Trump regime’s occupation of the Twin Cities and the illegal and Unconstitutional behavior of ICE agents. In particular, they’re calling for justice for Renee Good, who was shot to death by Jonathan Ross.
The reverend herself specifically expressed that she feels that supporting this evil organization is contrary to Christian values.
Early in the morning on Monday, January 19, Nicki Minaj tweeted something absolutely abhorrent on the topic.
“DON ‘C–K S–KIN’ LEMON IS DISGUSTING,” she began in all caps.
“HOW DARE YOU?” she demanded in hysterics.
Minaj proclaimed: “I WANT THAT THUG IN JAIL!!!!!”
Bizarrely, she claimed: “HE WOULD NEVER DO THAT TO ANY OTHER RELIGION.”
Minaj concluded by writing: “LOCK HIM UP!!!!!”
Everything that she’s saying is so weird
It is unclear which crime she seems to believe that Lemon has committed.
Of course, that likely doesn’t matter to her.
Her claim that Lemon would not “do that” (cover a protest between two sections of) “any other religion” is arguably half-true.
There are many religions interweaving in the social and cultural fabric of America. But the Christian nationalist rhetoric of the Trump regime makes ICE support come disproportionately from Christian groups. Not to mention that at least 60% of the nation is Christian.
So, sure, technically, it’s unlikely that Lemon would be filming this exact type of protest at another religion’s house of worship.
To be clear, Minaj used a homophobic epithet to describe Lemon.
Though his sexuality (he is gay and married to real estate agent Tim Malone) is not relevant to the story at hand, it seemed to be at the forefront of her mind.
In response, Don Lemon spoke to TMZ about Minaj’s unhinged tweet.
“I’m not surprised Nicki Minaj does not understand journalism and is weighing in on matters that are above her capacity,” he acknowledged.
“However, the more appropriate image for her post is a ‘Pick Me’ Doll,” Lemon opined.
What happened to Nicki Minaj?
Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, tweeted her own absurd take.
She insisted that the Trump regime “will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship.”
Additionally, she vowed that the unfortunately ironically named Department of Justice will be “launching a full investigation” into the matter.
Notably, Trump’s DOJ will not be investigating the murder of Renee Good. They have, however, obstructed local and state law enforcement from conducting their own investigations.
Leavitt is exactly what she appears to be. But, even in 2026, Minaj continues to catch some people by surprise. What happened to her?
We’re actually including Matt Bernstein’s thorough and very interesting “Why Nicki Minaj Threw It All Away For Fascism” video from late last year. It is absolutely worth your time.
But, to simplify, a lot of people believe that she’s just struggling. Whether it’s financial problems or her career kind of flopping or her needing political favors for the criminal men in her life, maybe she’s just desperate.
MAGA is an easy grift. As you may have seen in her Turning Point USA appearance last month, you don’t even need to be good at following the prompt. You just say a few malicious buzzwords to a lot of applause. It’s sad.
However, this seems to be who Minaj really is. From her absurd vaccine claims to how much she seems to hate any woman whom she perceives as competition to her ardent defense of sexual predators, she’s a perfect fit for MAGA.
(And no, putting Lemon on blast is not her first sign of bigotry against the LGBTQ+ community — even though, for many years, Black gay men were part of her core supporters)
The things that are wrong with Nicki Minaj go back for probably her entire life. But maybe she’s no longer hiding who she is because she’s hoping to cash in. We’ll see.