Rapper Nikki Minaj said President Donald Trump had “changed the energy of the country” as she joined him at a Michigan rally, where he campaigned for Republican candidates ahead of the nationwide midterm elections.
She said, “He’s given us a future to look forward to,” after Trump praised her and called her onto the stage to speak.
Minaj has described herself as Trump’s “number one fan,” even though she criticized some of his policies during his first term.
In Michigan, Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed was locked in a tight race with Republican Mike Rogers, with just over a week before the midterms. Former President Barack Obama held a rally, one of the first of that cycle, with the Democrat on Saturday.
Democrats were also actively campaigning, with close elections set for November 3 that would determine which party controlled Congress for the remainder of Trump’s presidency.
In remarks on Sunday, Trump focused on El-Sayed’s Muslim faith and background, alleging that he would “invite jihadists” into the country if he won.
El-Sayed criticized similar remarks by Trump as Islamophobic, saying in a voter ad last week that the president “thinks he can use my name and my faith to distract us from the suffering his policies are inflicting on us at the pump, at the grocery store, and at the doctor’s office.”
In Port Huron on Sunday, Minaj, wearing a gold-colored Gucci-branded suit, led the crowd in chanting Trump’s name and the names of Republican candidates in Michigan.
“We really need all these great people to be elected, because this is a major turning point for our country,” she said.
Trump said, “She never looked more beautiful. She gets it. She’s smart,” as she left the stage.
In earlier remarks, Trump praised the rear end of one male Republican candidate before turning the crowd’s attention to Minaj.
“By the way, I looked at a beautiful ass before,” he said. “Nikki Minaj. That’s hard to miss.”
He then asked her to “stand up” as the crowd cheered, and added that he hoped she was not “insulted” by his remark.
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