Joy Reid Claims Trump and MAGA Using Nicki Minaj as ‘House Pet’ on a ‘Leash’

 

Joy Reid accused President Donald Trump and MAGA figures of using rapper Nicki Minaj as a “house pet” to put “blackface” on their movement.

In a segment from The Don Lemon Show that Reid posted to her own YouTube account on Friday, Reid gave her explanation for the right’s embrace of Minaj, who recently declared that she is probably the “number one fan” of the president.

“The reason they want her on a leash as their house pet cuddled at Donald Trump’s feet, the reason she is the new house pet is because they need, N-E-E-E-D Black people to give them ‘cultural cool.’ Black ‘cultural cool’ has always been a powerful, powerful element in the country,” Reid said.

The former MSNBC — now MS NOW — host argued Trump officials would be “horrified” if they actually heard Minaj’s music.

She said:

The Trinidadian who doesn’t care about the killing of Trinidadian fishermen, the female rapper who hates other female rappers, who hates on women who are more popular than her, Cardi B. She’ll never be Rihanna. She’ll never have a brand like Rihanna. She’ll never be Beyoncé. She’s a 40-some year-old, Black female rapper who clearly don’t care that much about Black people or immigrants, even though she was an undocumented immigrant.

Minaj was born in Trinidad and moved to the United States when she was five, eventually gaining legal residency status. There has been talk of Minaj’s legal status among critics as she’s grown more vocal in her support for Trump. She recently received a $1 million Trump “gold card,” which is supposed to offer a pathway to eventual citizenship.

Reid claimed Minaj has lost her “cultural cool” and Trump allies will embrace someone new soon who is also Black.

“They wouldn’t want her if they didn’t need cultural cool. Their problem is she ain’t cultural cool no more… Nikki ain’t s**t and she ain’t saying nothing. And a 100 little Barbs can’t tell me nothing. Y’all mad about it, be mad about it,” she said. “But she not gonna work. But they’re going to keep looking for somebody Black to be the face, to put blackface on MAGA, and they know that ‘cultural cool’ matters, that’s why they’re doing it.”

Watch above via The Don Lemon Show.

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Zachary Leeman covered pop culture and politics at outlets such as Breitbart, LifeZette, BizPac Review, HollywoodinToto, and others. He is the author of the novel Nigh. He joined Mediaite in 2022.