Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk, brought out Nicki Minaj as her surprise guest at the conservative convention, Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on Sunday.
“I have the utmost respect and admiration for our president,” Minaj said. She also referred to Trump as “handsome” during her conversation with Erika Kirk, who serves as Turning Point USA’s CEO.
The online backlash was swift – including the spread of a resurfaced clip, where Charlie Kirk called Nicki Minaj a “bad role model for Black girls.”
“I spent a lot of time writing about how some men in hip hop have been betraying us for Donald Trump, and now Nicki Minaj has joined them,” said former New York Times columnist Charles Blow during a Facebook video. “I don’t care what you are personally getting out of it; I don’t care what your rationales are. This is an administration that is trying to erase Black history, causing harm – and death – to Black people in this country, and other countries around the world. Anybody who is supporting this administration is supporting that, and [they] must be condemned.”