It's Been a Minute MAGA has a DEI policy. Just ask Nicki Minaj.
20 snips
Feb 13, 2026 
Russell Contreras, Senior race and justice reporter at Axios who covers race, policing, and immigration. He explores Nicki Minaj’s pivot to MAGA and how cultural figures gain access. He examines shifting definitions of whiteness and why people of color join the far right. He traces Border Patrol history and everyday experiences of perpetual foreignness.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Fast Track To Power Through MAGA
- The MAGA movement now offers rapid access to visibility, money, and power for people who adopt its ideas.
- Russell Contreras says this pathway removes traditional credential barriers and rewards loud, popular voices quickly.
Whiteness Has Become Conditional
- Definitions of whiteness are changing to let some people of color be accepted into conservative spaces if they endorse certain ideas.
- Contreras frames this as an expanded path to 'whiteness' conditional on adopting white-supremacist ideas like replacement theory.
Alienation Meets Economic Promise
- Political alienation and economic promises draw some voters of color to MAGA despite acknowledging racism.
- Contreras notes polling where Latino voters call Republicans racist but also view Democrats as condescending, making alternatives attractive.