May Hashira, a Twitch streamer, says she is no longer a Barb after Nicki Minaj campaigned with President Donald Trump in Michigan. Hashira calls Minaj a “circus clown” and says she wants to cover a tattoo similar to Minaj’s.
Hashira reacted to Minaj’s participation in a Republican rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on Oct. 25. Minaj led the crowd singing “We love Trump,” promised her support if he runs for office again, and arrived with the president on Air Force One. Hashira accused Minaj of betrayal as she showed up at the rally and supported Trump.
“I really hate to see a legend fall,” Hashira said. “And now she’s doing whatever this is. It’s very saddening. It’s very disheartening. It is disheartening. And it’s embarrassing as a Barb.”
Then Hashira said she is not a Barb anymore. “I’m not a Barb no more,” Hashira said.
Hashira pointed to her own body art in order to show how much she used to idolize the rapper. “Like, look, by the way, look. Like, I have the same tattoo she has on her body,” Hashira said. “So it’s like, I know that (expletive). I want to get it covered up because it’s like, this (expletive) is disheartening.”
Watching Minaj perform alongside Trump made Hashira feel weird. “Like, it’s like, it’s weird. It feels weird because it’s like, she’s playing herself so bad,” Hashira said. “And it’s like, she’s like a clown. She’s like a circus clown.”
Trump visited Port Huron to campaign for Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers and gubernatorial candidate John James before Tuesday’s midterm elections. Rogers, a former congressman, is running for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.
On stage at McMorran Place Sports and Entertainment Center, Minaj praised Trump’s “resilience” and urged voters to support Rogers and James, Complex reports. “If you run again, I will support you again,” Minaj told the president. The 22nd Amendment bars a president from a third term.
Also, Minaj talked about children and gender transition, upsetting some LGBTQ+ fans, as Reality Tea reports. Before introducing Minaj to the stage, Trump made a comment about Minaj’s backside and later said he hoped she “wasn’t insulted,” CNN reports. Critics slammed Trump for making a disrespectful comment towards women.
Minaj flew to Michigan with Trump and some of his aides on Air Force One and landed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township. During the flight, White House communications director Steven Cheung posted a video of himself interviewing Minaj. Cheung joked that she could become the next White House press secretary, a post Katie Zacharia quit five days after taking the job in October.
Hashira is a Nigerian American Twitch streamer and content creator. In October, she became a victim of heavy online criticism, including death threats, over comments about interracial dating.
Hashira’s reaction shows a division within the Barbz, as most of them belong to the LGBTQ+ community. A longtime fan said he would end 11 years of support after Minaj’s remarks at the Michigan rally. Other fans still support Minaj, and some claimed at the beginning of the year that their politics made them leave the Democratic Party.
Minaj is ignoring the criticism. At a Trump Accounts event in Washington in January, she called herself the president’s “number one fan” and said the backlash made her support Trump even more.
The rapper, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago and raised in Queens, New York, once kept her distance from Trump. In 2020, she said she would not join his camp, The Hill reports, and she criticized his hard-line immigration policies, AFP reports. She praised him for the first time in public in November 2025, drawing attention to the killings of Christians in Nigeria, Fox News reports.
