Nicki Minaj called Trump handsome and JD Vance a role model. Now old statements from Charlie Kirk, who once criticized the rapper, are emerging.
Nicki Minaj was unusually effusive about President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance to Erika Kirk, the widow of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk, who was murdered in 2024, at Turning Point USA’s (TPUSA) AmericaFest in Phoenix. Now older statements from Charlie Kirk are causing discussions. Apparently he wasn’t a fan of the rapper.
Praise for Trump and Vance – with a slip of the tongue?
At the event, hosted by Erika Kirk, Minaj praised the administration for its “heart and soul” and said she was proud of its work since taking office. In particular, her statement that Trump was “handsome” and that JD Vance was a “great role model” caused irritation on social networks. Specifically, the rapper said: “Dear young men, you have great role models like our handsome, charming president and you have great role models like assassin JD Vance, our vice president.” Some fans see this as a conscious provocation or ironic exaggeration, others as a real political change of heart.
Erika Kirk and Nicki Minaj in conversation at AmericaFest:
Charlie Kirk: First critic, then defender?
Charlie Kirk himself was probably rather critical of Minaj during his lifetime. A resurfaced video from April 2024 shows him skeptical of her and Cardi B. He explained at the time that both were not suitable role models for young black women and criticized explicitly sexualized content in their music: “Black culture is held captive by influences, songs and role models. Nicki Minaj, Cardi B – I don’t think that’s a good role model for 18-year-old black girls,” he said.
Charlie Kirk on the 2024 campaign on Nicki Minaj:
At the same time, there is a tweet from Kirk from 2021 in which he defended Minaj and accused the Democratic Party of only exploiting black artists for election campaigns. “The Democrats’ treatment of Nicki Minaj should be proof enough that they don’t care about black people, especially those they can’t control. They only use them for their votes every four years,” Kirk wrote on X:
Charlie was right. pic.twitter.com/ja2zdFjfV8
— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) December 22, 2025