Fireworks lit the stage and the audience roared as pop star Nicki Minaj walked out hand-in-hand with Erika Kirk Sunday in a surprise appearance at Turning Point USA’s annual convention in Phoenix.<\/p>\n
“I love this woman; she is an amazing woman,” said Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, who headed the right-wing student organization until he was killed<\/a> in September. “Words are words, but I know her heart.”<\/p>\n Minaj, who has surprised some fans in recent months by embracing the MAGA movement, praised President Trump and mocked California Gov. Gavin Newsom.<\/p>\n “I have the utmost respect and admiration for our president,” Minaj said. “I don’t know if he even knows this but he has given so many people hope that there is a chance to beat the bad guys and to win and to do it with your head held high.”<\/p>\n Minaj then read some of her former social media posts mocking Newsom, calling him “Newscum” and “Gavie-poo.”<\/p>\n “Imagine being the guy running on wanting to see trans kids, haha, not even a trans adult would run on that,” she said. “Normal adults wake up and think they want to see healthy, safe, happy kids \u2014 not Gav.”<\/p>\n Minaj then urged boys to “be boys.”<\/p>\n “There is nothing wrong with being a boy,” she said. “How about that? How powerful is that? How profound is that? Boys will be boys and there is nothing wrong with that.”<\/p>\n Minaj praised Turning Point USA, saying the organization is encouraging youth to connect with God.<\/p>\n “There has been a lack of that in our media, in our everyday conversations,” she said. “Christians have been being persecuted right here in our country in different ways.”<\/p>\n Minaj drew attention from the Trump administration in November, when she publicly backed the president’s assertions<\/a> that Christians face persecution in Nigeria, a claim the Nigerian government has disputed.<\/p>\n