The ‘Up’ rapper admitted that clashing with Republicans was exhausting, and that played a key part in her stopping speaking out on political issues.
Regularly being vocal about political issues can be tiring, and Cardi B admitted that getting negative responses from conservatives made her want to stop speaking out. The 29-year-old rapper responded to a fan who asked about why she doesn’t seem to voice her opinions nearly as much as she used to in an October 14 tweet. She admitted that backlash from both right-leaning people as well as some people that she was trying to help made her want to stop.
Cardi put her thoughts simply in the tweet. “I was tired of getting bullied by the republicans and also getting bashed by the same people I was standing up for,” she wrote. She also clapped back at a fan, who dissed her and said the rapper seemed “slow” and was “ruining everything,” by voicing her opinion. “It was the only way YOU would of [sic] understand me,” she wrote.
In the lead up to the 2020 election, Cardi was a surprising but powerful voice in the political arena, bridging the gap between the worlds of celebrities and politics. The Invasion of Privacy rapper engaged with politicians throughout 2020 to help inform her fans about issues and share her opinions. She had Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on during an April 2020 Instagram Live, where the two spoke about then-President Donald Trump‘s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Cardi later spoke to President Joe Biden, when he was just the Democratic candidate, to share what she was looking for in a leader, especially in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I want a timeline of when things are going to get better. I want a president to tell me what are the steps to get better, besides you know, taking precaution with our masks and quarantine,” she said at the time.
Of course, as Cardi was going against Trump, she was met with some detractors. She engaged in a pretty heated back and forth with right wing commentator Candace Owens on social media in September 2020. Candace had claimed that Biden’s team was only using Cardi to help get Black voters to the polls, while the commentator insulted Cardi, by calling her “illiterate” in a tweet. The rapper clapped back and said that Candace was manipulated by Trump and said that she shouldn’t underestimate Cardi’s influence. “I have a huge platform and I can make millions go vote to get the MAN THAT USED YOU. I don’t want to argue with you Candace I really don’t have the time. I honestly just feel sorry for you,” she wrote.
Other than speaking to politicians and putting down right-wing talking heads, Cardi was one of many stars who used her platform to call for justice for Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by police. “The fight ain’t over till you get justice,” she tweeted on what would’ve been Breonna’s 27th birthday.