Fans of rap artist Nicki Minaj protested outside the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, after she tweeted her thoughts on the vaccine.
“Nicki Minaj told me the truth! Fauci lied to me!” the protesters chanted Wednesday, referring to White House coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The fans were inspired by numerous tweets Minaj sent out, first explaining why she hadn’t gotten vaccinated yet, then defending herself against the furious backlash.
One protester’s sign read, “DEFEND NICKI AT ALL COSTS!”
@NICKIMINAJ told the truth to me, Fauci lied to me” Protesters are approaching cars leaving the @CDCgov in ATL.Clai… https://t.co/Xv4ovDDNhC
— Tori Cooper (@Tori Cooper)1631722503.0
Minaj was ridiculed by some for tweeting that her cousin had avoided getting vaccinated because his friend reportedly became impotent after receiving the vaccine and experiencing swelling in his testicles. Health experts denied the possibility of the story and criticized Minaj for passing along unsubstantiated anecdotes.
Among those bashing Minaj were MSNBC anchor Joy Reid, who called on Minaj to tweet support for vaccines for her more than 22 million followers.
Minaj responded by lashing out at Reid, calling her a racial epithet and recalling her controversial past with homophobic blog posts.
Minaj then tweeted a video of Fox News host Tucker Carlson defending her skepticism on Wednesday and had to defend herself against those who called him a racist and a white supremacist. She later claimed on her Instagram account that she had been suspended from tweeting because of her claims.
She also compared the United States to communist China in an Instagram video post.
“You can’t speak for the fear of the mob attacking you. If that doesn’t give you chills up and down your f***ing spine. This is scary! You should be able to ask questions about anything you’re putting inside your body,” Minaj said. “You can’t just innocently ask a question about something going in your body.”
Although the Biden administration had previously said it was not the role of the federal government to mandate vaccination, President Joe Biden later announced that he would be doing exactly that for employees of companies with more than 100 workers.
Minaj has been nominated for Grammy awards 10 times.
Here’s more about the anti-CDC protest inspired by Nicki Minaj:
Nicki Minaj tweet sparks local vaccine protest
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