Rep. Matt Gaetz suggested Nicki Minaj should be Donald Trump's running mate in 2024

• Rep. Matt Gaetz in a tweet suggested that Donald Trump and Nicki Minaj run for office together in 2024.
• Minaj over the course of this week has tweeted skeptical remarks about the COVID-19 vaccines.
• Those remarks led to an anti-vaccine protest and criticism from high-profile figures like Joy Reid.

Rep. Matt Gaetz on Friday suggested Nicki Minaj should be former President Donald Trump's running mate in 2024.

Gaetz was responding to an article from the Daily Beast that said Minaj publicly shared the phone numbers of two reporters who were looking into her claim that an individual got swollen testicles after having received a COVID-19 vaccine.

"My cousin in Trinidad won't get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you're comfortable with ur decision, not bullied," Minaj tweeted.

"Trump/Minaj 2024," Gaetz tweeted in response to the Beast article that reported her claim.

-Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) September 17, 2021

Earlier this week, Minaj revealed that she is not yet vaccinated against the coronavirus. She said she would not attend the Met Gala because vaccines were mandated at the event.

"They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. If I get vaccinated it won't for the Met. It'll be once I feel I've done enough research. I'm working on that now. In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face," Minaj wrote.

Immediately after, she received intense backlash from high-profile figures, including MSNBC host Joy Reid, who blasted her for using her platform with nearly 23 million followers to amplify vaccine skepticism.

"You've got that platform. It's a blessing. It's a blessing that you got that, that people listen to you," Reid said. "And they listen to you more than they listen to me. For you to use your platform to put people in the position of dying from a disease they don't have to die from, oh my god, as a fan, as a hip-hop fan, as somebody who's your fan, I'm so sad that you did that."

Fox News host Tucker Carlson invited her to speak on his show.

The nation's topmost coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci also responded, saying there is no evidence the vaccines cause reproductive issues.

Despite efforts from health officials like Fauci to dispel worries about the coronavirus vaccines, Minaj with her tweets has galvanized significant anti-vaxxer impact.

Earlier this week, for example, anti-vaxxers demonstrated outside the Atlanta Centers for Disease Control, where they chanted "down with the CDC, Fauci lies to me." There a masked man told the crowd, "Nicki Minaj said I'm not going to take your vaccine," according to a video of the event.