Nicki Minaj’s first tweet of the year was dedicated to Don Lemon and of course, she wasn’t handing out praise. Instead, she made it very clear she had smoke for the journalist.
For anyone who missed the chaos or thinks MAGA is once again doing entirely too much, right-wing activists have been pushing for Lemon’s arrest following his involvement in a protest that disrupted a church service in Minnesota. The demonstration took place Sunday at a St. Paul church, where protesters voiced opposition to ICE operating in the state, setting off a political firestorm online.
The protestors entered Cities Church mid-service, demanding the removal of federal immigration authorities and calling attention to the killing of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot earlier this month in Minneapolis by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. The interruption quickly escalated, with clips hitting social media.
Lemon, who has been working independently since his exit from CNN, was livestreaming an interview with one of the protest participants before the group entered the church. He later followed them inside as chants of “ICE out” rang through the building and accusations were hurled at a pastor for allegedly cooperating with the agency.
Now, Lemon noted in his report that police officers remained outside the church and did not intervene to stop the protest. Still, critics—including Nicki Minaj—watched the footage circulate online and wasted no time reacting. The rapper openly called for Lemon to be jailed. However, Don Lemon didn’t hesitate to fire back, accusing his critics of “losing their mind.”
Nicki, a Trump supporter, tweeted, “DON ‘COCK SUCKIN’ LEMON IS DISGUSTING. HOW DARE YOU? I WANT THAT THUG IN JAIL!!!!! HE WOULD NEVER DO THAT TO ANY OTHER RELIGION. LOCK HIM UP!!!!!”
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) January 19, 2026
Don responded, “The MAGA administration and the fake news MAGAs are losing their mind over something that’s not even true,” Lemon said.
“I had no affiliations with that organization. I didn’t even know they were going to this church until we followed them. We were there chronicling protests. Once the protest started in the church, we did an act of journalism, which was report on it and talk to the people who were involved, which included the pastor, members of the church, and members of the organization. That’s it,” Lemon said.
“It’s called journalism, First Amendment, all that stuff. All of you people who believe in the First Amendment absolutist, there you go. So why don’t you talk to the actual person who is in charge of the organization and whose idea was to have the protest at the church before you start blaming me for stuff for which you have no idea.”
“Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added, mimicking Donald Trump’s favored sign-off.