Nicki Minaj made a shock look at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on Sunday, becoming a member of new CEO Erika Kirk for a Q&A session that highlighted the rapper’s rising alignment with conservative politics.

The “Super Bass” artist took the stage as an unannounced visitor, telling the group, “I’m honored to be here” earlier than praising each President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Minaj mentioned the 2 leaders have an “uncanny” skill to attach with the American folks.

“I love both of them,” Nicki Minaj mentioned throughout the session. “I have the utmost respect and admiration for our president. He’s given so many people hope that there’s a chance to beat the bad guys and to win and to do it with your head held high and your integrity intact. He’s from Queens, New York, like me. He’s been through everything a person could be through, publicly,” Nicki Minaj mentioned.

“Having to constantly be lied on. It’s not that funny. Until you are in that person’s shoes, that’s being lied on, you’ll never understand what it feels like. That person is a human being. They have a family who has to read those lies, and it’s just not fair.”

“This administration is full of people with heart and soul, and they make me proud of them. Our Vice President makes me, well, I love both of them. They’re both powerful men, smart, strong, all of that. But both of them have a very uncanny ability to be someone that you relate to. I can relate to them. When I hear them speak, I know that they’re one of us,” Nicki Minaj added.

The rapper mentioned she reached a breaking level after being criticized and realized her interior power outweighed exterior stress. She stopped caring about others’ opinions and determined to face agency, refusing to again down.

“This is not what the world used to feel like and especially for the young people, I don’t want them growing up in a world where they feel like that. I mean, they deserve for their voices to be heard,” Nicki Minaj mentioned. “They have valid feelings, and they’re thinking about things, and it deserves attention. You know, we should listen to what they’re saying. And if you’re growing up in a world that tells you it’s taboo to say something that the masses don’t agree with, that’s not okay.”

Minaj’s look comes after months of more and more public assist for Trump’s administration. She not too long ago spoke on the United Nations in November about Christian persecution in Nigeria, working immediately with Trump’s workforce on the difficulty.

The rapper posted on social media, thanking “the President & his team for taking this seriously” and asking folks to “lift them up in prayer.”

Her political shift represents a dramatic departure from her earlier assist for the Democratic Party. Nicki Minaj beforehand backed Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton however has moved towards Republican positions over the previous 12 months.

She’s repeatedly attacked California Governor Gavin Newsom over transgender insurance policies and shared pro-Trump content material on social media. Erika Kirk now leads Turning Point USA after taking up following the homicide of her husband, Charlie Kirk, in September.

The group’s former chief had a controversial historical past of inflammatory statements about Black Americans. Kirk beforehand made racist feedback about “prowling Blacks” and questioned the capabilities of Black pilots.

He denied systemic racism existed and known as white privilege a “racist idea.” Kirk additionally made disparaging remarks about Black ladies, claiming they had been “taking opportunities” from others.

During Sunday’s AmericaFest speech, Erika Kirk mentioned her late husband “deeply mattered on a multitude of levels” and proved to be “a peacemaker” and “coalition builder.”

She advised attendees that each she and Charlie would select “fight mode over flight in any situation.”

Nicki Minaj’s Q&A with Erika Kirk has generated important backlash from her fanbase. Many longtime supporters expressed disappointment over her political transformation.

Related