Nicki Minaj used her surprise appearance this weekend at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference to heap praise on Donald Trump, lob further insults at California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), and advise boys to “be boys.”

The Grammy-nominated rapper joined Erika Kirk — Turning Point USA’s new CEO and the widow of the conservative youth organization’s founder, late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk — onstage Sunday at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona, to discuss politics and religion.

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Kirk set a lowbrow tone for the duo’s conversation from the start, inviting Minaj to read some of her recent social media posts trolling California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) — who is widely expected to run for president in 2028 — including one ridiculing Newsom for comments he made expressing his support for trans kids.

Kirk then invited Minaj to “riff” on what she would say to Newsom.

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“Dear Newscum,” the “Superbad” rapper said, using Trump’s childish nickname for the California Democrat. “We don’t have a problem cleaning up the scum if we have to. Please tread lightly.”

Minaj went on to say that she has “the utmost respect and admiration” for Trump — despite blasting his first administration for separating migrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border — adding that “he’s given so many people hope that there’s a chance to beat the bad guys.”

The rapper’s abrupt public pivot toward MAGA appears to have begun in early November, when she praised the Trump administration for designating Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” due to the alleged mass slaughter of Christians at the hands of “radical Islamists” in the West African nation. While analysts have noted that extremist groups in Nigeria have in fact targeted people of all faiths with violence, both Kirk and Minaj continued to repeat the administration’s contested claim that Christians are being specifically targeted.

Minaj went on to claim that “prior administrations saw nothing wrong” with the supposed persecution of Christians both abroad and in the U.S., and she struck a distinctly Christian Nationalist note when she told the crowd, “We absolutely cannot let people who have a problem with us worshipping God… We cannot have them in power.”

Later in their conversation, Minaj returned to her apparent fixation on Newsom when she advised young men not to be “Newscum.”

“You have amazing role models like our handsome, dashing president, and you have amazing role models like the assassin JD Vance, our vice president,” Minaj said.

The “Starships” rapper’s odd description of Vance as an “assassin” led to an awkward moment with Kirk, whose husband was assassinated in September during a speaking event in Utah. Minaj went silent for several minutes as Kirk tried to cover for her.

“This is what’s so beautiful about this moment because if the internet wants to clip it, who cares?” Kirk told the crowd. “I love this woman. She’s an amazing woman. She has a soul and a heart for the Lord and words are words, but I know her heart, and it doesn’t even matter, and you say what you want to say because I know your heart, and I do not judge that.”

Minaj then returned to her advice for America’s young men: “Boys, be boys,” she said. “It’s okay, be boys. It’s nothing wrong with being a boy. How about that? How powerful is that? How profound is that? Boys will be boys, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Minaj didn’t elaborate further. Nonetheless, many have interpreted her comment as transphobic.

The rapper closed her conversation with Kirk by saying that she hopes her legacy will be that “it’s okay to change your mind.”

“I’ve traveled the world. I’ve performed for huge crowds all around the world, and no matter how many songs I do on that stage, it didn’t mean as much as this,” she said.

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