Nicki Minaj has called New York Governor Kathy Hochul “evil” and warned she “will not escape God’s wrath” in a fiery social media post that drew a swift clapback from the Democratic incumbent.
Minaj, 43, launched the attack on X on Thursday as Hochul campaigns for a second term in the November gubernatorial election. The rapper, who has emerged as an outspoken MAGA supporter, wrote that the Democratic Party “should forfeit her seat because even if she wins, she will be of great consequence to them,” She added that Hochul was on a “downward spiral” and had failed to “denounce evil when she had the chance.”
Hochul, 66, fired back during a campaign stop in Albany when reporters asked about the tirade.
“I think she should ought to get outside and get offline a little more,” the governor said. “And stop going to Trump rallies because it’s poisoning your mind.”
The exchange caps a week of political maneuvering for Minaj, who appeared onstage with former President Donald Trump at a rally ahead of next month’s midterm elections. During that appearance, the “Super Freaky Girl” artist told Trump he had “changed the energy of the country” and “given us a future to look forward to.” Trump reciprocated with a compliment about Minaj’s anatomy that raised eyebrows across social media.
The back-and-forth also coincided with a wave of online speculation positioning Minaj for an unlikely West Wing role. Communications director Steven Cheung fueled the chatter by posting on X: “Ladies and gentlemen, I think we may have found the new White House press secretary! @NICKIMINAJ.”
The joke landed just days after Katie Zacharia departed the press secretary post after only five days, making her the shortest-serving holder of that office in American history. Anthony Scaramucci, who lasted 11 days in 2017, previously held that distinction. Zacharia, in her own X post alongside a photo with Trump, called the former president “a kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and hardworking man” and said “no one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to.” Her exit came after Trump himself suggested she should “reconsider” following treatment he called “pretty nastily” by the press corps.
Minaj’s political commentary has grown increasingly pointed since she publicly aligned herself with Trump’s 2024 campaign. The Trinidad-born rapper, who has previously sparred with elected officials over vaccine mandates, has leveraged her platform to amplify conservative messaging to her tens of millions of followers. Her latest salvo against Hochul represents her most direct engagement with a sitting Democratic officeholder to date.
The governor’s dismissive response suggests she sees little electoral threat from Minaj’s endorsement of her Republican opponent, though the episode has generated significant media attention in the final stretch of the campaign. Hochul faces Republican challenger Lee Zeldin in a race that polling indicates has tightened in recent weeks.
Neither Minaj nor Hochul has posted further about their exchange since the initial volley.
