The virtual applause was so loud our democratic institutions shook: In just under a week, Cardi B made an impassioned case to end the government shutdown, put Tomi Lahren in her place, performed onstage in a lime-green corset and no pants, and cemented her status as the moral compass that framers of the Constitution didn’t dare dream of.
At press time more than 73,000 people had signed an unofficial petition to have her give the rebuttal to the State of the Union.
It all started because Cardi doesn’t think people should have to work for free. Earlier this month the rapper turned to Instagram to deliver a rant in which she summed up the true viciousness of the government shutdown better than Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, and Chuck Todd combined. “This shit is crazy,” she said in the viral clip. “Like, our country is a hellhole right now, all for a fucking wall. And we really need to take this serious.”
Later, in a move from which elected officials and pundits alike could stand to learn, Cardi acknowledged that she didn’t have all the answers, but, she went on, “I feel like we need to take some action. I don’t know what type of action, bitch, because this is not what I do, but bitch, I’m scared.”
The short video was so electric it wasn’t just name-checked on prime-time news but debated in the most rarefied circles of Democratic Party leadership. In a back-and-forth on Twitter, Senators Brian Shatz and Chris Murphy discussed whether or not to retweet the clip. (Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also chimed in.) And this isn’t the first time senators have amplified her clarion calls to action. In April 2018 Senator Bernie Sanders opened a tweet with these immoral words: “Cardi B is right.”
What he said.
After weeks of gridlock and stalemate, it fell to Cardi to illuminate the harm the shutdown had done. Is it a coincidence that the shutdown ended just over a week later? OK, perhaps. But her impact is undeniable.
With that in mind, both Republicans and Democrats could stand to learn from, hm-hmm, the same woman who followed her shutdown address with a video about the desperate scourge of vagina wedgies. Here’s a breakdown of her most essential lessons.
Lesson #1: Give the people what they want.
Thanks to the partial shutdown and a host of Russia-related bad news, 57 percent of people now disapprove of Trump. (A new high—and low.) With her Instagram “address,” Cardi gave a voice to the frustration and anger that millions of Americans feel. People want to feel like they aren’t alone in their struggles and that those with more power and a bigger platform understand them. Cardi’s admission that she’s scared spoke to the precarious condition in which Americans find themselves. Her analysis of the literal state of the union was so direct and spot-on that Stephen Colbert proposed she give a televised response to Trump’s (still-unscheduled) State of the Union.
Elsewhere, representatives like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Senator Robert Torricelli amplified Cardi’s message online. In the age of the Twitter White House, representatives like Ocasio-Cortez in particular have won over Americans, showing that it’s possible to use social media to share actual information not just propaganda. And while they use decidedly different vocabulary to convey their ideas, both women have figured out a way to give the American public what they so desperately crave—realness and honesty.
Lesson #2: Stand up for yourself, especially when Tomi Lahren is involved.
Of course true innovators are always criticized in their time, and conservative media jumped at the chance to snub Cardi. Fox News host Stephanie Hamill dismissed her comments about the government shutdown by suggesting that the rapper’s music was not a source of female empowerment. Conservative political commentator Tomi Lahren also chimed in: “Looks like @iamcardib is the latest genius political mind to endorse the Democrats. HA! Keep it up, guys! #MAGA2020.”
