Trump Comments on Nicki Minaj’s Derriere as Republicans Fight to Hold Congress

Context

Minaj’s political shift towards MAGA began in October 2025, when she backed Trump’s post about the treatment of Christians in Nigeria. She later appeared at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in December, praising Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk. This was a striking change for a rapper who had previously criticised Trump’s immigration policies, including in her 2016 song Black Barbies , and spoken up for LGBTQ+ and trans rights.

It remains unclear why Minaj has changed her position so drastically. One theory circulating among fans is that she is cosying up to Trump in the hope that he will pardon her husband, Kenneth Petty, whose criminal record has followed him throughout their relationship.

In 1994, Petty attempted to rape a 16-year-old girl, Jennifer Hough, in Queens, New York. He pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted rape in 1995 and served around four and a half years in prison. After moving to California in July 2019, Petty failed to register as a sex offender as required by law. He was arrested in March 2020 and later pleaded guilty to the federal offence, receiving three years of probation, one year of home detention and a $55,000 fine in July 2022.

The circumstances surrounding Petty’s legal troubles also explain why the pardon theory has continued to circulate. In 2021, Hough sued both Petty and Minaj, alleging that they had harassed and intimidated her to force her to retract her account of the attempted rape. According to the lawsuit, Minaj contacted Hough directly, offered to fly her and her family to Los Angeles, and proposed having her publicist draft a statement recanting the allegations. Hough also alleged that people connected to Minaj offered her $500,000 to withdraw her account, with a separate alleged offer of $20,000. Minaj was dropped from the lawsuit in January 2022, while the claims against Petty continued. The allegations in the civil suit should not be confused with Petty’s criminal conviction.

Why It Matters

While discussing how the media misrepresented his comments about Republican Senator Jon Husted’s body in relation to his athletic strength, Trump drew attention to Minaj’s ass this time at a rally in Michigan, a state where the candidate he is backing, Mike Rogers, is racing head-to-head with Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.

This rally is one of many that Trump has been holding in other states, even in usually safe “red states”, to gather support for Republican senators. Other than making sexualising comments about others’ bodies, Trump attacked El-Sayed at the same rally with Islamophobic remarks, calling him a “jihadist” and saying that he would have to pass through a metal detector before being allowed into the Senate. El-Sayed has denied any ties to extremist groups, and the allegations against him have not been substantiated.

Why It Matters

With Republicans fighting to hold on to Congress, Trump is using Minaj’s celebrity status and star appeal to encourage voters to “vote red”. Her support gives him a high-profile ally to bring into the campaign, even as his comments about her body and his repeated remarks about Republican politicians’ physiques draw attention away from the stakes of the election.

The November 3 midterms carry stakes well beyond individual Senate races. Republicans currently hold narrow majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and Democrats need a net gain of four seats in either chamber to take control. If Democrats win the House, they could launch investigations into the Trump administration and impeach the president. The Senate would then decide whether to convict him, while a Democratic majority could also block or delay presidential appointments, making it harder for Trump to push through his agenda. Losing even one chamber would leave Trump with far less room to govern during the final two years of his presidency, while losing both would make him an even greater lame duck.