Erika Kirk Brings House Down, Interviews Rapper Nicki Minaj Onstage At AmFest

Turning Point USA President Erika Kirk brought the house down on Sunday when she introduced rapper Nicki Minaj on the stage at AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona. Erika Kirk sat down with Minaj on the stage, saying that she wanted to honor Charlie’s tradition of always having a surprise for the AmFest crowd. She started off with Minaj reading out loud some of her “mean tweets” directed at Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) to thunderous applause. Nicki Minaj makes a surprise appearance at AmFest 2025!! She’s speaking her mind, defending President Trump and JD Vance, she’s proud to be American, and advocating for persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Let’s go!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/EVEdqFK3OY - Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) December 21, 2025 Some 24 hours earlier, the organization had teased a huge guest who would have people talking into next year, and many believed at first that President Donald Trump would be making an appearance. But when Donald Trump Jr. took a call from his father during his speech just prior to Erika’s big reveal, that appeared not to be the case. Minaj, for her part, has been throwing her support behind a number of conservative causes - from protecting Christians from persecution worldwide to ending gender transition surgeries and hormones for minors - and has made it her particular mission to go after Governor Newsom. “Dear Newscum, we don’t have a problem cleaning up the scum if we have to. Please tread lightly,” Minaj said her current message to “Gavvy-Pooh” would be. When asked what her opinion of the current administration was, she said, “I have the utmost respect and admiration for our president. I don’t know if he even knows this, but he’s given so many people hope that there’s a chance to beat the bad guys and to win and to do it with your head held high and your integrity intact.” Minaj went on to explain that for her, the “turning point” was that she’d realized she was tired of being pushed around: “I’m not going to back down any more. I’m not going to back down ever again.” Kirk asked why it was such an extraordinary thing to see people speaking their minds in today’s world, and Minaj’s message was clear: “People are no longer using their minds, their brains. So right now just imagine, we’re not allowed to have a different opinion anymore. We’re not allowed to think out loud anymore. This is not what the world used to feel like.” When Kirk pressed Minaj on the backlash she was seeing from within her own industry, Minaj responded with just three words: “I didn’t notice.” . @MrsErikaKirk “I know that you are getting a lot of backlash from your own industry. What is your reaction to that?” @NICKIMINAJ : “I didn’t notice.” pic.twitter.com/7Ikn7KXkvj - Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) December 21, 2025 “You can’t wake up and think about people who are just determined to stay mad,” she said. “In a world that doesn’t want us to think, we will continue to...

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