Two clips in two days, one message. Nicki Minaj used Fox News this weekend to tell young voters to show up for the 2026 midterms, and then told them which way to vote: "Please. And vote red." The line moved first through @MDBayNews on X off a Fox preview. Complex has the follow-up teaser at No. 2 on its trending rail tonight, behind only Ye at SoFi.
## The two clips Clip one (Fox, Sept. 25): Nicki talks straight to camera to the young-voter demo. "Your voice is very necessary right now," she says, then closes on "vote red," per EURweb and Bossip. It's her most direct call to action yet. Earlier this year she endorsed one candidate. This clip is a party-line ask.
Clip two (Fox, Sept. 26): a teaser for her sit-down with Lara Trump on My View With Lara Trump. "I think the Democrats have gotten way too caught up in pop culture," she says (TMZ, Complex). She says their relationships with artists have made them "petty and childish." The full interview aired Saturday at 9 p.m. ET (Fox News video).

## How we got here This is the latest step in a run that has been building all year. In January she spoke at the Treasury Department's Trump Accounts summit. Then came the Gold Card photo, when she said she was "finalizing" her U.S. citizenship paperwork (Billboard). In August she endorsed Byron Donalds for Florida governor (EURweb). Eight days ago she went on The Ingraham Angle and said "I just love him". Complex ties the pivot to her feud with Gavin Newsom over the swatting incidents at her L.A. home, plus the grievance she has aired about Obama and Jay-Z. Her line to TIME in May: "Lots of rappers don't like Jay-Z and were afraid to say it."
One loose end sits in the vote-red clip. Nicki said in 2018 that she came to the U.S. from Trinidad undocumented at age 5. In January she said her citizenship paperwork was being finalized (Billboard). She has not publicly confirmed it's done, so whether she can vote in November is unconfirmed.
## Why it lands The Barbz are a young, diverse fanbase with a lot of women on the core, and it runs deep in Black and queer fan spaces. That's the demographic this clip is aimed at, and a lot of them are the ones pushing back. Bossip rounded up the "sellout" replies. Other fans say this is exactly what she has been saying out loud since January, so nobody should act surprised. Both camps are right about something. An artist asking her fans to vote is standard. Asking them to vote for one party on a Fox News set is a different kind of spend of the same capital.
There's also a gap in how she talks about her shows. On Ingraham she agreed that politics don't belong at concerts. That was the same week Macklemore got pulled off Ed Sheeran's stadium run for what he said on stage. Nicki's politics go on TV, not the stage, and she hasn't announced a tour. She says new music comes first (Bossip).
Midterms are Nov. 3. Whatever the Barbz do with this clip, we'll see it in the numbers.
## Sources - Complex: Nicki Minaj Thinks Democrats Have 'Gotten Way Too Caught Up in Pop Culture' (Sept. 26, 2026) - TMZ: Nicki Minaj Slams Democrats For Being 'Way Too Caught Up in Pop Culture' (Sept. 26, 2026) - EURweb: Nicki Minaj Sends Message to Young Midterm Voters: 'VOTE RED' (Sept. 26, 2026) - Bossip: Nicki Minaj's Midterms Message & Fan Backlash (Sept. 26, 2026) - Fox News: Nicki Minaj sits down with Lara Trump (Sept. 26, 2026) - @MDBayNews on X: vote-red preview (Sept. 25–26, 2026) - Billboard: Nicki Minaj Gold Card / citizenship paperwork (Jan. 2026)
