A reporter shouted a question to President Biden at the White House on Thursday after his speech on the economy, apparently wanting to know what …
A reporter shouted a question to President Biden at the White House on Thursday after his speech on the economy, apparently wanting to know what it means when a celebrity with the influence of rapper Nicki Minaj not only questions the safety of the COVID vaccines but also criticizes the censorship surrounding the issue. Biden ignored the question. After igniting a media firestorm on Monday urging her 22 million Twitter followers to pray about whether they should get a COVID-19 vaccine, Minaj on Wednesday told her more than 150 million Instagram followers that Twitter suspended her account. And she vowed never to use the social media platform again. Twitter denies that it suspended her account, but Minaj’s description of the shutting down of voices like hers — comparing it to her experience in China — is resonating across the political spectrum. She recalled visiting the communist nation, where she was told « you cannot speak out about the people in power. » Minaj said she understood that China is not the United States, and the government there and its laws are different. « But don’t y’all see what’s happening? » she asked. « Don’t y’all see that we are living now in that time where people will turn their back on you for not agreeing? But people will isolate you if you simply speak and ask a question. » On Monday, Minaj caught the attention of the White House when she wrote on Twitter that had serious questions about the safety of the vaccines after a cousin in Trinidad told her of a friend whose testicles became swollen after getting the shot.
