Nicki Minaj Endorsed Kathy Hochul in 2018. Now She’s Telling Voters to Elect Her Republican Opponent
by Jerome London · Thought CatalogUpdated 8 minutes ago, October 31, 2026
Nicki Minaj called New York Gov. Kathy Hochul an “evil woman” on October 28 and urged Black and Christian voters to elect Republican Bruce Blakeman. In 2018, she’d backed Hochul for lieutenant governor alongside Andrew Cuomo for governor, saying: “They know how to work for the people to make NY even GREATER.”
This time, Minaj wrote that Hochul “did not denounce evil when she had the chance,” without identifying what she meant. She also circulated 2 older clips of the governor and told voters: “Vote BLAKEMAN!”
One was Hochul’s May 6, 2024, remark at the Milken Institute Global Conference about young Black children in the Bronx who “don’t even know what the word ‘computer’ is.” Hochul was discussing a state AI computing project. She apologized that day, acknowledging that Black children know what computers are and saying access to technology was the problem she’d intended to address.
The other clip came from a 2025 appearance at True Bethel Baptist Church, where Hochul was promoting inflation-rebate checks. She told the largely Black congregation: “Don’t stop by the liquor store, OK? Buy something for the kids. Buy them some food. Sometimes I have to stop by the liquor store, too. I understand.”
The version Minaj shared omitted Hochul’s comment about stopping at the liquor store herself. The church’s bishop said her remarks related to his sermon that day. Minaj also accused Hochul’s unnamed friends of doing “demonic things,” without specifying the conduct.
Hochul responded after an October 28 campaign stop in Albany: “Maybe she ought to get outside and get offline a little more. And stop going to Trump rallies — it’s kind of poisoning your mind.” In Peekskill the next day, she said: “I’m not evil. I’m nice. I’m nice.”
Minaj’s support for Donald Trump has become explicit. She described herself as his “No. 1 fan” during a January 28, 2026, event at the Treasury Department. On October 25, she traveled with him aboard Air Force One to a Republican rally in Port Huron, Michigan, where she pledged to support him “forever and ever.”
Blakeman, the Trump-backed Nassau County executive, welcomed her endorsement: “Nicki, I’ve got the U-Haul ready. It’s time to fire the worst governor in America.”
New Yorkers vote November 3. Hochul’s seeking a second full term, and polls released during the week of the exchange put her ahead: 54% to Blakeman’s 40% in Siena’s likely-voter poll, and 53% to 42% in Marist’s poll.
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