In the midst of the current historic government shutdown that affects hundreds and thousands of government employees and millions of Americans in general, overwhelming criticism for the government’s inaction is pouring out across the country from even the most unlikely sources.
Rapper Cardi B, famed for hits like “I Like It,” “Bodak Yellow” and “Bartier Cardi” spoke out on January 16th, the 26th day of the partial U.S. government shutdown that is the longest in American history, in an Instagram video calling out President Trump for forcing federal workers to work without pay. She stated, “This shit is crazy. Like, our country is a hellhole right now, all for a fucking wall. And we really need to take this serious,” and, “Now, I don’t want to hear y’all motherfuckers talking about oh, but Obama shutdown the government for 17 days. Yeah, bitch, for health care. So your grandma could check her blood pressure and you bitches could go check your pussy in the gynecologist with no motherfucking problem.” The video quickly went viral, and it currently has 15 million views. Cardi B trended on Twitter as people across the internet weighed in.
In a hilarious twitter exchange that has now been liked 57,000 times, Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) posted, “Trying to decide whether or not to retweet the Cardi B video” to which Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) replied back to with “Omg, I had the same argument with myself 30 minutes ago!” Like a couple of teenagers trying to decide if they should post a risky pic on Instagram, Schatz replied saying ““Ok you do it. And say retweets are not endorsements, especially the language, and I will retweet.” Murphy appeared to have been joking saying, “DHYB,” which the internet collectively googled and found out to mean, ‘Don’t hold your breath’. Schatz then tweeted, “I had to google that. Fair enough. See you tomorrow Murph.” Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority leader, then replied with what many of the internet were thinking: “Guys, I’m still holding my breath. Are you gonna RT Cardi B or not?”
Tomi Lahren did not share the delight the Democrats held and instead chose to mock Cardi B’s intellect, believing that her rapper-status and expletives made her an inappropriate candidate to weigh in on politics. Tomi Lahren, a fervent supporter of President Trump who once said “Grab ‘em by the pussy” and was the host of Apprentice before his presidency, stated, “Looks like @iamcardib is the latest genius political mind to endorse the Democrats. HA! Keep it up, guys! #MAGA2020.” Cardi B replied with “Leave me alone I will dog walk you.” Lahren then tweeted, “I’m sure you would. Still doesn’t make your political rambling any less moronic. #Build that Wall.”
Cardi B then called Lahren out for being a “sheep” and tweeted, “You’re so blinded with racism that you don’t even realize the decisions the president you root for is destroying the country you claim to love so much. You are a perfect example on no matter how educated or smart you think you are you still a SHEEP!”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest female member of Congress whose historic ousting of political incumbent of Joseph Crowley to win her Bronx and Queens district has won the hearts of many Americans, threw her hat into the midst tweeting her support of Cardi B. AOC said, “”Why do people think they can mess with Bronx women without getting roasted? They act as though our borough hasn’t been perfecting the clapback game since the Sugarhill Gang ?? y’all just found it on Twitter.” AOC and Cardi B are both from the Bronx, New York.
Tomi Lahren saw this as AOC supporting Cardi B’s threat to “dog walk” Lahren and did not take kindly to this saying, “Look up ‘dog walk you,’ and tell me what you find. This whole thing is textbook Democrat. You whine about violence and do PSAs about bullying but applaud, encourage & laugh at threats towards people who think differently than you. THEN you justify it with labels like “racist.” She also tweeted to AOC, “Aren’t you the same girl who whines about Trump inciting violence? Now you applaud it because it’s against a female conservative you disagree with politically? Convenient. P.S. I do fully acknowledge @iamcardib is smarter than YOU.”
To comment on politics, you don’t have to be the most well-spoken and polite person in the room. You just have to have a platform. And that’s how it should be. Politics affect all of us, so we should all get the right to have a say. If that platform happens to engage 40.2 million and not just your college roommate, your mom and that coworker you sort of like, then more power to you.
Cardi B is not a politician; she’s a rapper, Twitter clapback queen and most importantly, politically informed. She said it best herself in an interview with GQ about her love of politics and following news: “But you concerned about it [what’s going on in the community] because you are a citizen of America; you are a citizen of the world.” People in a place of power, whether that be an elected official or someone who is Instafamous or a movie star, can’t shirk the responsibilities of today; when a wall is being leveraged over the paychecks of hardworking government employees, over the housing of Section 8 families, the food stamps for our most vulnerable, our beautiful national parks, our domestic violence and homeless shelters, then we all have a duty to take a stand, regardless of the language we choose to use.