Here is something that does not happen very often: a disinformation detection firm best known for tracking wartime propaganda campaigns and election interference turning its attention to a rapper's X account. But that is exactly what Cyabra, an Israeli outfit that counts Elon Musk and Pepsi among its past clients, has done — and what it found has landed squarely in the middle of one of the messiest collisions of hip-hop, MAGA politics and algorithmic manipulation in recent memory.
The firm identified 18,784 fake accounts — roughly 33% of the 55,469 profiles that engaged with 51 political posts on NickiMinaj's X accountbetween 11 November and 28 December 2025. That is three to four times the industry baseline for inauthentic activity in organic social media discourse, whichCyabraputs at between 7 and 10 per cent.
The 24-page report,shared exclusively with Politicoon 23 February 2026, does not accuse Minaj directly. But it concludes that a coordinated campaign was operating in the background of her political pivot, manufacturing the appearance of broad public support while she was cementing herself as one of the most visible conservative voices in American pop culture.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the bots. And the question of who paid for them — or whether anyone did — remains wide open.
Cyabra's analysts flagged three patterns. The fake accounts posted in tight two- to three-hour bursts, reused identical keywords and emoji strings, and clustered overwhelmingly in the 25-to-34 age bracket — a demographic the firm said appeared engineered to look credible rather than reflecting any natural audience.
Some generated brief, repetitive praise loaded with positive hashtags. Others produced what the report described as longer, more detailed comments designed to pass as genuine fan engagement. On 26 December alone, 56% of all comments on Minaj's political posts came from accounts Cyabra classified as fake,according to TMZ.
That is a staggering single-day figure. And it fell during what was arguably the peak of Minaj's MAGA turn — she had appeared at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in December, speaking alongside Erika Kirk and telling the audience she had 'the utmost respect and admiration for our president'.
Cyabra expressed 85% confidence in its identifications, adding that stricter behavioural filters could push that figure closer to 90%.
Dan Brahmy, the firm's CEO and founder, toldPoliticothe case was unusual for his field. 'We don't really see a lot of high volume, high impact orchestration of bad and fake actors within that intersection of the geopolitically driven and music culture,' he said. What made it stranger still, Brahmy added, was that many of the bot accounts had a documented history of boosting Minaj's music posts before she started posting about politics at all — suggesting a pre-existing network was repurposed.
The bots powering Nicki Minaj’s MAGA warhttps://t.co/gll8GSj8zd
Source: International Business Times UK
