Explore - LEFT Network

Articles & Videos

755 items

All Politics Policy Economy Rights & Justice International Climate & Environment Technology Health Media Culture & Society

New Republic • Jan 28, 2026

Nicki Minaj Says “God Is Protecting Trump” in Weird Press Conference

Nicki Minaj, the once-iconic rapper turned MAGA pawn, went onstage at President Trump’s “Trump Accounts” event on Wednesday to deliver a message that was as brief as it was bizarre.“I’d like to ask you to come up, Nicki, come on up.… She’s been such a great supporter, and a great supporter of Trump Accounts,” the president proclaimed. “And I said, ‘I’m gonna let my nails grow, because I love those nails. I’m gonna let those nails grow.’ She’s so good. She’s been MAGA, what can I say?”Minaj eventually made it onstage, wearing a large white fur coat.“Hello! I don’t know what to say, but I will say that I am probably the president’s number one fan,” said Minaj, with Trump and Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary flanking her as the microphone blocked most of her face. “And that’s not going to change. And the hate, or what people have to say—it does not affect me at all. It actually motivates me to support him more, and it’s gonna motivate all of us to support him more.“We’re not gonna let them get away with bullying him, and the smear campaigns, it’s not going to work, OK?” she continued. “He has a lot of force behind him, and God is protecting him. Amen?” She then left the stage, as Trump invited more and more people onstage to speak in awkward, 30-second intervals.Nicki Minaj: "I am probably the president's number one fan" pic.twitter.com/fwgLuxwyfQ— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 28, 2026Minaj was allegedly supposed to be there to announce a massive investment into the so-called “Trump Accounts,” a sort of warped trust-fund situation in which kids born in zip codes under the median-income threshold between 2025 and 2028 get a $1,000 federal contribution that tracks to the U.S. stock index and will become available when they turn 18. But Minaj made no mention of it.This is at least the third public appearance Minaj has made in support of the Trump administration and the larger MAGA movement. Last November, she joined Ambassador Mike Waltz to spread misinformed claims of “Christian genocide” in Nigeria. In December, she joined Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk, at the Turning Point USA Conference, stating they were all “the cool kids.” And now there’s this weird little moment.

The Majority Report • Jan 28, 2026

MR FUN | 1/28/26

Scheer Post • Jan 28, 2026

The United States of Consumption

Our Trash and Our Lives, Here and Abroad.

12:30

Hasan Abi • Jan 28, 2026

WHAT THE F*CK

We talked to protesters in Minneapolis. Here's what they said.

10:27

Pod Save America • Jan 27, 2026

We talked to protesters in Minneapolis. Here's what they said.

New Republic • Jan 27, 2026

Philip Glass Cancels Kennedy Center World Premiere Amid MAGA Takeover

Prolific pianist and composer Phillip Glass is boycotting the Kennedy Center, adding his name to a growing list of performers who have pulled their performances in the wake of President Trump’s hostile takeover.“After thoughtful consideration, I have decided to withdraw my Symphony No. 15 ‘Lincoln’ from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Symphony No. 15 is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the Symphony,” he announced in a statement Tuesday.“Therefore, I feel an obligation to withdraw this Symphony premiere from the Kennedy Center under its current leadership.”That “current leadership” would be none other than Board of Trustees Chair Donald Trump, whose overhaul of the once esteemed arts and culture venue has struggled mightily of late. Big names like Issa Rae and Rhiannon Giddens pulled out of shows, and as of last fall, ticket sales at the Kennedy Center were the worst they’ve been since the Covid-19 pandemic. In December, the Kennedy Center was forced to cancel its annual New Year’s Eve concert as artists pulled out to boycott Trump changing the center’s name to “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”

New Republic • Jan 27, 2026

Melania Documentary Flops as Crew Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Chaos

Melania Trump’s new documentary, Melania, is looking like an opening-week box office flop—after Amazon’s MGM studios paid tens of millions of dollars for the rights to it.The documentary detailing the first lady’s return to the White House is projected to make just $1 million in its first week. While documentaries generally do worse at the box office, the sheer amount of money Amazon spent—$40 million for the rights, $35 million for an aggressive marketing blitz—and the constant stream of Truth Social posts from President Trump make this a particularly pitiful showing.Melania’s early failure comes as a new report from Rolling Stone details serious labor issues behind the scenes and a whopping two-thirds of the film’s staff requesting not to be credited at the end of the film. Director Brett Ratner, who made headlines after six women accused him of sexual assault and harassment during the #MeToo movement in 2017, was perhaps the most loathed person on set. (Actress Natasha Henstridge alleged that Ratner forced her to perform oral sex on him when she was 19, Olivia Munn claimed that Ratner masturbated in front of her, and more recently, he was pictured shirtless in the Epstein files.)“I feel a little bit uncomfortable with the propaganda element of this,” one crew member shared, “but Brett Ratner was the worst part of working on this project.”“He did actually chew a piece of gum and throw it in a coffee cup on my cart,” a staff member told Rolling Stone, [but] “didn’t acknowledge my existence for even one nanosecond.”Another member recalled a day when Ratner feasted on his own meal in a set space where food was not allowed, on a day when no one else on the crew got a break to eat.“Brett, unknowingly or maliciously, got his own food, went up there, was just eating it and just licking his fingers in grubbiest way possible, either being a dick or [having] no awareness whatsoever to the fact that everybody else is working and no one’s eating,” a staffer said.“Unfortunately, if [the film] does flop … I would really feel great about it,” said another.Melania herself is pocketing $28 million from the licensing sale. She and President Trump plan to attend a premiere of the documentary at the Kennedy Center on Thursday.