Eight years ago, Nicki Minaj was in Kathy Hochul’s corner, backing her 2018 run for lieutenant governor.
Now, with New York days away from choosing its next governor, the rapper is calling Hochul “an evil woman” and predicting she won’t escape God’s wrath.
The governor didn’t let it slide. Asked about the comments at a campaign stop in Albany on Wednesday, Hochul suggested Minaj spend less time online and a lot less time at Trump events.
“I think she should ought to get outside and get offline a little more. And stop going to Trump rallies because it’s poisoning your mind,” Hochul said.
The whole thing kicked off with a social media post from Minaj, who has become one of Donald Trump’s most outspoken celebrity supporters. Her opening shot didn’t leave much room for interpretation.
“Kathy Hochul is an evil woman. The Democratic Party should forfeit her seat because even if she wins, she will be of great consequence to them,” Minaj wrote.
She kept going in the same post. “Downward spiral for her. She will not escape God’s wrath. She did not denounce evil when she had the chance.”
Minaj followed that with a lengthy second post accusing Hochul of keeping “horrible company” and failing to condemn wrongdoing. It’s a long way from the endorsement she handed Hochul back in 2018.
The timing isn’t random. Minaj appeared alongside Trump at a rally in Michigan earlier this week, and she’s been publicly urging young voters to “vote red” in the upcoming election.
That’s a sharp turn for an artist who grew up in Queens and built a career on the borough’s swagger.
Seeing her line up against New York’s sitting Democratic governor lands differently than a typical celebrity endorsement, and her fan base has never been shy about splitting into camps.
From Hochul’s side, the framing is simple: Minaj has been pulled in by rally culture and the internet. From Minaj’s side, the issue is moral, a governor who in her words “did not denounce evil when she had the chance.”
The clash adds a celebrity twist to the final stretch of a race that, on paper, looks fairly settled. Hochul is up against Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman, and recent polling has her holding a double digit lead.
Blakeman spent Wednesday on a statewide campaign tour aimed at energizing Republican voters, while Hochul worked the room in Albany. Neither campaign is easing off as Election Day gets closer.
Minaj has a long history of firing back when someone comes for her, from rap beefs to online fan wars. With a governor now publicly telling her to log off, plenty of people are watching her timeline to see what she posts next.
