Rapper Nicki Minaj urged young Americans to vote Republican in the upcoming midterm elections during an appearance on Fox's My View with Lara Trump, according to comments Fox News reported Sunday. Minaj, a supporter of President Donald Trump, also accused the Democratic Party of discouraging black voters from breaking with the party.
She kicked things off with a blunt call to "vote red."
"You know how much you want a say in what happens and realize that the only way to have that is by voting, not just voting for the president, but just voting and, you know, all of the local elections. Right?" she said. "But I want you guys to do your research, see what candidates are in your area, you know, and just give it a couple, you know, a few minutes or an hour. Research them and then make a decision. You guys are so blessed to be able to vote. And you have to, more than ever now, you have to take advantage of that ability that you guys have to be able to vote, please. And vote red."
Then Lara Trump asked whether she thought that "there are more people out there who vote for Democrats not because they like their policies and the politics themselves, but because they feel like they're supposed to vote for Democrats?"
"I think it's changing now, but obviously, for a very long time, black people specifically feel that they should just vote blue," Minaj said. "I would say the entire country, there's been a major shift where people are starting to wake up and see what's going on and choose differently."
The Grammy-nominee first came out in support of Trump in November 2025, after Trump spoke out about violence against Christians in Nigeria. She publicly thanked Trump for taking the issue seriously, marking a sharp change from her earlier criticism of his immigration policies. By December, she was openly praising Trump and JD Vance at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest, calling them "role models" and saying she had "utmost respect and admiration" for Trump.
"Black people are not allowed, according to the Democrats, for the most part, to make a different decision," she told Lara Trump. "We're not allowed to think, we're not allowed to voice concerns, to make an argument as to why we don't like a particular candidate."
Plenty of evidence backs this up. Joe Biden infamously told radio host Charlamagne tha God in 2020 that "you ain't black" if he had trouble picking between him and Trump.
In 2021, "Uncle Tim" trended on Twitter after Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) delivered the Republican response to Joe Biden's 2021 joint address to Congress. Justice Clarence Thomas has received similar attacks for decades.
Minaj noted that black voters who aren't in line with the Democrats face "smear campaigns and just outright nasty behavior from these adults."
"It just doesn't look good," she added. "And so the Democrats kind of have been just digging their own grave in that way and they're not understanding that people can see them."
And, according to Minaj, black voters are catching on. "And now they feel, 'Oh, okay. So you only love me and respect me when I do as you say and don't ask any questions,'" she said. "And no one wants to be treated that way."
Asked by Lara Trump what she saw in Democrats that "led you to believe that perhaps they did not have the best interest of the country or for you in mind," Minaj accused the party of becoming "way too caught up in pop culture," arguing it has let its romance with the entertainment industry spiral out of control. "I think that they've allowed their relationships with artists to cause them to act like children and to be so petty and childish. But that's what I think they do. They allow people in the music industry to influence them. And these people clearly don't have their best interests at heart. These people have their egos at heart."