Nicki Minaj sparks major backlash after accepting role in Trump administration
Nicki Minaj has come under intense criticism for taking on a role in the Trump administration to raise awareness to an ‘injustice’ close to her heart. The 42-year-old Trinidadian ‘Queen of Rap’ has announced she will be using her platform to speak out against claims of Christian persecution in Nigeria.
The ‘Super Bass’ hitmaker is scheduled to take to the stage and join forces with US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, in New York today (Tuesday, November 18), as allegedly arranged by Alex Bruesewitz, an advisor to President Donald Trump.
The move also comes as the POTUS claimed Nigeria is ‘allowing the killing of Christians’ in the secular country, which is closely split between Muslims (53 percent) and Christians (45 percent).
Under intense pressure from conservative Christian groups urging him to consider the west African nation a ‘country of particular concern’ over alleged religious persecution, Trump claimed Islamist extremist groups were behind the targeted persecution of Christians in ‘very large numbers’.
He also promised to send US troops ‘guns-a-blazing’, warning: “It will be fast, vicious and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our cherished Christians.”
However, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu insists that people ‘across faiths’ are being killed while analysts say the causes are much more complex, from ethnic rivalries to disputes over land and water.
Tinubu also says Nigeria remains a ‘democracy with constitutional guarantees of religious liberty’.
Announcing Minaj’s involvement in the cause, Waltz wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the singer ‘is not only arguably the greatest female recording artist, but also a principled individual who refuses to remain silent in the face of injustice’.
“I’m grateful she’s leveraging her massive platform to spotlight the atrocities against Christians in Nigeria, and I look forward to standing with her as we discuss the steps the President and his administration are taking to end the persecution of our Christian brothers and sisters,” he penned.
The mom-of-one later confirmed her involvement, writing back to Waltz: “Ambassador, I am so grateful to be entrusted with an opportunity of this magnitude. I do not take it for granted. It means more than you know.”
Referring to her fanbase, known as the ‘Barbz,’ she continued: “The Barbz and I will never stand down in the face of injustice. We’ve been given our influence by God. There must be a bigger purpose.”
Her collaboration with the White House comes after the hitmaker publicly supported Trump’s Truth Social post about the matter just days earlier.
“Reading this made me feel a deep sense of gratitude. We live in a country where we can freely worship God … Thank you to the president and his team for taking this seriously. God bless every persecuted Christian,” she wrote on X.
Yet some fans aren’t exactly rejoicing at her involvement in politics, dubbing the move as ‘PR cosplay’ and accusing her of cosying up to the Republican.
“It’s laughable that Nicki Minaj that has zero knowledge on Nigerian political crisis and doesn’t understand Nigerian religious diversity will be speak on issue base of baseless propaganda and written scripts handed over to her by white people,” said one disgruntled person before stating the only people to speak on Nigerian issues ‘are Nigerians’.
“‘I will never stand in the face of injustice’ while siding with Trump is crazy,” echoed another. “Pack it up. Take your hypocrisy elsewhere.”
A third added: “The ‘Barbz vs injustice’ act is getting tired, power doesn’t equal purpose, and fan armies aren’t a moral compass.”
A fourth weighed in: “The ‘Christian genocide’ narrative is the ultimate political utility.
“It simultaneously fuels the celebrity clout economy for Nicki Minaj and serves as the Evangelical loyalty test and Trump allegiance signal for Republican senators. Nigeria and the victims? Irrelevant!”
UNILAD has contacted Nicki Minaj’s representatives for comment.