Rapper Nicki Minaj says she is not convinced Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton should be the next President of the United States.
In a new interview for Billboard magazine’s year-end issue, Minaj said that “as a woman” she supports Clinton’s candidacy, but added, “Am I convinced that she should be the next president? I still want to be open-minded about everyone.”
“I identify with the fact that when she’s in that room and there are nothing but men there — there’s sometimes something in her that must feel intimidated. But I think that she uses that and turns it into a strength,” said the rapper. “Because that’s what I’ve always done.”
Minaj then praised Clinton for “sticking it out” in regards to her marriage to former President Bill Clinton.
“She has gone through horrifying things, even within her marriage. She has been brave and weathered the storm. And continued being a boss. That’s something that every woman should feel inspired by, no matter if you’re voting for her or not,” she said.
She also shared her opinion of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, whose ideas “may not have been so horrible if his approach wasn’t so childish.”
Describing Trump as “hilarious,” she added, “I wish they could just film him running for president. That’s the ultimate reality show.”
Minaj also praised President Obama for touring a federal prison in Oklahoma in July:
I thought it was so important when he went to prisons and spoke to people who got 20 and 30 and 40 and 50 years for drugs. There are women who are raped, people who are killed and [offenders] don’t even serve 20 years. I was blown away, watching the footage of him speaking to the prisoners. They never felt like anyone in the White House cared about them. I loved that he made them people again.
Minaj then said America’s war on drugs has “become slavery” in regards to a question about drug enforcement policies disproportionately targeting people of color.
Read the interview in full here.