Nicki Minaj Explains Her MAGA Shift: 'I Am the Catalyst for That Change'

Nicki Minaj hasn’t been shy about her support for Donald Trump and the Make America Great Again movement in the last year, but it took a lot for her to come out publicly and back the president, as she was initially afraid of the backlash from her peers in the music industry.

Minaj, who has branded herself as the president’s “No. 1 fan,” went deep about her Trump support and political activism in an interview with TIME published on Wednesday (May 13).

“I felt that way already about him, just that I didn’t dare act like that publicly,” she said. “It’s been ingrained in everyone’s brain in the music business that we are supposed to be a Democratic family. I just knew they would not like me supporting Trump.”

Minaj continued: “Many celebrities feel the way I do, but they don’t say it. Sometimes you just need one brave person to get the brunt of the impact. I think I am the catalyst for that change. Hopefully, when they see me and hear me speak and feel my energy.”

For the “Super Bass” rapper, she felt compelled to speak up about her MAGA pivot after she was allegedly “completely ignored” by California Governor Gavin Newsom, following repeated swatting calls to her California home.

That’s when Republican U.S. Representative Anna Paulina Luna stepped in to have her touch base with law enforcement and a private security firm to put an end to the swatting.

“I was shocked. I’d never seen anyone in politics treat me that way,” she told TIME. “That’s what made me say that I don’t care to keep this a secret anymore.”