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Nicki Minaj and the Politics of Performative Stupidity

How Turning Point USA used a celebrity co-sign to launder grievance politics as 'normal.'

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Kristoffer Ealy
Jan 06, 2026
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Kristoffer Ealy is a political science professor who teaches at California State University Fullerton. He is the author of the upcoming book, Political Illiteracy: Learning the Wrong Lessons. Subscribe to his Substack, The Thinking Class.

Illustration by Riley Levine

We are past “misinformed.” We’re in “willfully stupid” territory now. At a certain point,…

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Kristoffer Ealy
Political science prof & political psych nerd. Writes about groupthink, power, & American nonsense. Sometimes funny on purpose. 📬 professorealy.substack.com 🐦 kmezdoesit.bsky.social
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