Trump is claiming that Christians are being disproportionately persecuted in Nigeria, despite vehement denials by Nigerian government officials. And for some reason, rapper Nicki Minaj is backing him and his misinformation. What's going on here?
Nigeria is a country of more than 230 million people, who are almost evenly split between Christians and Muslims. "In Nigeria, Christians are being targeted," Minaj recently said at a UN event. "Churches have been burned, families have been torn apart... simply because of how they pray."
Although some people were killed in an attack on a church in Kwara, officials have pushed back, calling such claims a "gross misrepresentation of reality." Reports say that most deadly violence results from disputes over vital resources like land and water, not religion.
This isn't Minaj's first time parroting false, MAGA-led claims. During the pandemic, she made headlines for spreading misinformation about the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. But nine years ago, the Trinidadian rapper was singing "Island girl, Donald Trump want me go home." Now, she's busy supporting Trump, while his administration conducts deadly strikes on alleged "drug boats" off Venezuela's coast, killing at least two Trinidadians.
All skinfolk ain't kinfolk. While we should always show up and show out for our community globally, we can never thoughtlessly align with anti-Black rhetoric or people that spread harmful lies against us.