Did Vladimir Putin start his war in Ukraine yet? What a complete sh-tshow this is. Currently, NATO, the UN and leaders around the world are busying themselves with the diplomatic, strategic and militaristic realities of trying to convince Putin to settle the f–k down. But what about Cardi B? Cardi, as we well know, actually pays attention to what’s happening in the world, and she has nuanced and intelligent opinions about the economy, government shutdowns, racism and Trump rednecks. Yesterday, Cardi decided to do another political commentary video, this time about Russia, Ukraine and NATO.
Cardi B says she’s “really not” on either Russia or NATO’s side after making comments that war “should be the last thing” world leaders should be worrying about amid the crisis in Ukraine.
“I actually want to say a lot of things, but I’m just gonna mind my business because sometimes I feel like I have such a big platform that if I don’t say the right things I might get killed,” the “Up” rapper said in a video posted Tuesday on Twitter. “I’m really not on NATO’s side. I’m really not [on] Russia’s side. I’m actually in the citizens’ side, because at the end of the day, the world is having a crisis right now.”
The 29-year-old entertainer’s remarks came a day after she responded to a Twitter user asking her to weigh in on “this whole Russia thing.”
“Wish these world leaders stop tripping about power and really think about whose really getting affected (citizens) besides the whole world is in a crisis. War, sanctions, invasions should be the last thing these leaders should worry about.”
“There’s inflation not only in America, but everywhere in the world. It’s really hard to get the economy back up. There are so much shipments and embarkments backed up. China’s not really messing with us, so a lot of things are behind, a lot of goods are behind. And this shit just made it way more complicated. I’m just really annoyed by this, and I really wish that all world leaders right now just really come with a logical conclusion.”
Do I agree with the whole idea of not taking sides? Not really – obviously, I’m on NATO’s side and Joe Biden’s side. I think it’s pretty easy to NOT take Russia’s side here and to stand with the Ukrainian people. That being said, Cardi’s position is more nuanced than “I’m not taking sides.” She’s talking about how innocent people are already being affected by all of this, and asking world leaders to actually focus on the economy.
And please don’t start with “why would anyone care what Cardi B thinks about politics?” She legitimately has a smarter and compassionate take than every Republican.
Wish these world leaders stop tripping about power and really think about whose really getting affected (citizens) besides the whole world is in a crisis.War,sanctions,invasions should be the last thing these leaders should worry about. https://t.co/25qemEtzF9
— Cardi B (@iamcardib) February 22, 2022
It’s me https://t.co/jZaSrUwMWH pic.twitter.com/4QQ8hKygMw
— Cardi B (@iamcardib) February 22, 2022
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
-
- New York, NY – Cardi B: Make sure you guys get good pictures of me! as she arrives at a business building with 3 bodyguards in NYC. Pictured: Cardi B BACKGRID USA 2 NOVEMBER 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: Fernando Ramales / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- New York, NY – Cardi B rocks a teal pantsuit as she runs errands in NYC. Pictured: Cardi B BACKGRID USA 2 NOVEMBER 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: Fernando Ramales / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- Los Angeles, CA – Cardi B presents Offset with his $2,000,000 gift at his 30th Birthday Party hosted by Cardi B at Sneakertopia LA in Los Angeles, California. It was a star-studded event with Kanye West, NLE Chopra, Quavo, Takeoff, G-Eazy, and more in attendance. Pictured: Cardi B, Offset BACKGRID USA 22 DECEMBER 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- Los Angeles, CA – Cardi B presents Offset with his $2,000,000 gift at his 30th Birthday Party hosted by Cardi B at Sneakertopia LA in Los Angeles, California. It was a star-studded event with Kanye West, NLE Chopra, Quavo, Takeoff, G-Eazy, and more in attendance. Pictured: Cardi B BACKGRID USA 22 DECEMBER 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- West Hollywood, CA – Cardi B and Offset step out together as they hold hands exiting Drake’s Super Bowl event in West Hollywood. Pictured: Cardi B, Offset BACKGRID USA 13 FEBRUARY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
I completely agree with her. They are qll focusing on power play and yet people all over the planet are struggling
I mean, she hasn’t said anything that poignant has she? She is siding with the people and not governments. Doesn’t seem that nuanced a view, but sure let’s act like this is some revolutionary opinion…
Her comments sound stupid. The terms of being on the side of the citizens and everybody trippin’ and that they are more important issues to consider. She is completely missing the point for the sanctions! Putin wants to restore the breakup of the Soviet Union and is using his massive army to position themselves all around Ukraine and using a host of lies to invade Ukraine! Russians started entering Ukraine yesterday which Putin considers “neutral” territory when it’s clearly portions of Ukraine!
Cardi B should educate herself BEFORE she starts talking about international matters! Putin has been been fighting with Ukraine since 2014 and he is increasing his troops to surround Ukraine, which is up to 190,000 troops so far. Satellite images show he is bring in more troops each day, even though he is lying his ass off about removing troops. Putin stated that th biggest mistake was the Soviet Union collapse and he is trying to restore the same control of power. There is a very good reason why world leaders around the world are speaking and meeting with him. The fact that Germany ceased the oil pipeline from Russia to Germany is an enormous threat against Putin.
Charlotte, If it’s so mundane a take why is there an entire political party in America refusing to make the same points?
No one should be on the of Putin. He is a tyrant to who jails and/or kills his political opponents.
Honestly I truly do not think she has any idea what she’s saying in her word salad. At the end, she’s probably just thinking how it affects her sales.
before we go down a rabbit hole on this. I have an international legal background.
Legally speaking, NATO was created FOR the people, so that another WW2 wouldn’t happen, so that CITIZENS wouldn’t have to worry about invasions of other countries.
do an internet search and it very clearly states this:
Why was NATO founded? The North Atlantic Alliance was founded in the aftermath of the Second World War. Its purpose was to secure peace in Europe, to promote cooperation among its members and to guard their freedom – all of this in the context of countering the threat posed at the time by the Soviet Union.
People, before making comments need to understand these alliances were made and strengthened to have the abilities of countries to assist each other. So before everyone decide they need to take a side, do some historical research on wars, and invasions and occupations.
THANK YOU! I’m sorry but it’s meaningless to just say you’re on the side of “citizens” without understanding the governments and agreements that affect citizens of different countries.
I wish more celebrities would say something like “This isn’t an area I know enough about right now to make a comment about.” Now THAT would be helpful to everyone, and normalize the idea that it makes sense to educate yourself before opining.
When celebs have a platform, this is what we get. An assumption that because they are famous and have followers, they know what they are talking about.
Well said. Putin could very well kill thousands of people with the weapons he has at the border. How could you not be against that if you are for “the people”?
NATO isn’t focused on “a power play”. They are focused on preventing death on a massive scale.
I’m not surprised younger generations don’t know a lot about NATO. I think it’s hard to grasp the nuances of why it is so critical more than 30 years after the USSR collapsed.
I agree with the spirit of what she’s trying to say but Cardi needs to look up how WWII started cause Vlad is taking a page straight out of Hitler’s playbook. This is exactly how WWII started. Read about his annexation and ‘peaceful’ take over of the Sudetenland. He promised he’d stop there and suddenly started taking over all of Europe. This is a BFD.
Well, the citizens of the Ukraine don’t want to get invaded by Russia, so it’s pretty obvious which side you should be on.
And I doubt Russian soldiers or citizens near Ukraine want war either. Some of them will be killed too. Unfortunately, Putin is lying to them and spreading misinformation in order to drum up support for his war, which is for nothing more than to serve his own ego.
So, I see where Cardi is coming from. She doesn’t want anyone – Russian, Ukrainian, European – to die for one man’s power trip.
Exactly. She wants Putin to think about the people? The ones he poisons? He wants absolute power and he will kill and maim to get that power. As far as “China’s not messing with us??” China is growing closer to Putin and dismissing US concerns about Ukraine. China wants Taiwan back, and they need Russia to get it. So, yes, Cardi, China is messing with the US, and many others. They are, and continue to be, a threat.
Don’t forget the massive foreign debt the US has with China. They’re everywhere.
When she says “not messing with us” she’s literally saying they aren’t on the US side
Replace Chuck Todd with Cardi B
Since World Wars 1 and 2 were actually discussed when I was in school, I sure as hell ain’t looking to see number 3 in my lifetime.
Some leaders can walk and chew gum at the same time, so this is where I slightly disagree with Cardi.
No kidding — a couple of years ago, my son’s school middle school removed WWII from the US History curriculum because they “didn’t have time” to teach it. (But they spent 3 weeks on the 19th century Great Awakening social reform movement.) You can’t just teach the pretty parts of history to kids.
Can’t wait till this lady takes the political stage. She has so much more insight, despite having so much less relevant training and experience, than most world leaders today IMHO. Her take is literally pitch perfect and considered all perspectives, finally deducing that there is little real rationale for conflict here.
So imagine what she could do, say, five or ten years down the line. Someone needs to start bending her ear about getting herself ready to run for something.
Her take is NOT “pitch perfect”, and no, she could not teach world leaders anything on this topic. NATO is trying to keep innocent people from getting killed during Russia’s overthrow of an independent country. There’s no both-sidings this situation. She’s out of her depth on this topic.
A Russian invasion is NOT going to be good for “the people” and it will have a huge negative impact on the global economy.
Well, get her on the phone with ol’ Vlad then, and let HER convince him that “there is little real rationale for conflict” here. All of Europe is trying everything possible (including sanctions, diplomacy, and threats) to get Putin to back down from his crazed attempt to reunite the USSR and to invade sovereign nations to do so.
The US is supporting our NATO allies with sanctions because we promised we would in the, you know, formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance. That’s the whole point. If all of the rational adults (France, Germany, US, UK, etc.) leave the table because “there is no real rationale for conflict” then Putin has carte blanche to invade Ukraine, then maybe Belarus, Romania, the Czech Republic, and so on. What does that look like to you???
You’re joking, right?
I’m glad Cardi weighs in b/c she is influencing her young audience to think about what’s happening in the world and what matters. It also beats the hell out of stupid Tucker Carlson, whose every word makes me stabby.
If that kind of insight is what people consider to be more impactful and intelligent than the behind-the-scenes work, diplomacy, and negotiations of politicians within the last few weeks, then I seriously question the level of judgment.
I appreciate celebrities drawing attention to international matters… more or less. Sometimes, they do more harm than good.
But her statement wasn’t particularly insightful. A war is growing in Europe and people suffer and die. Anyone with a mediocre amount of empathy and social intelligence is on the side of those most vulnerable; the citizens.
Of course, NATO members could step back and hand over the power to Putin and let him do as he pleases like back in 2014. He invades Ukraine, destabilizing Eastern Europe, from Estonia down to Turkey. It’s a critical zone, which means those countries are forced to tolerate NATO troops, while NATO itself has lost trust to keep the peace. Millions of refugees flee, destabilizing the rest of Europe as its history repeats itself with right extremists gaining popularity.
That’s the “power play” Europe is facing. At the moment, European leaders have placed some sanctions. A lot of diplomacies is still involved, while Putin basically takes a page of Hitler’s playbook (Sudetenland and “Seit 5 Uhr 45 wird jetzt zurückgeschossen!”) and has essentially invaded Ukraine, a sovereign nation.
Putin wants Eurasianismus, he romanticizes the USSR and Irredentism. It’s a form of Nationalism.
Europe standing up to Putin is not just about power. It’s also about defending the values and peace implemented after one of the most horrific and abominable chapters in history. In the end, the UN is a direct result of WWII.
“Putin wants Eurasianismus, he romanticizes the USSR and Irredentism. It’s a form of Nationalism.”
Girl, did you watch his speech yersterday? Becasue he’s one of the most anticommunist person i’ve heard, talked sh*t about Lennin and Stalin and the way bolsheviks let the soviet republicks have the right to autodetermination and all that. He just wants to be like befere all that, the Russian Empire.
He wants to be Tsar Vladimir I. It makes me sick.
It’s not about communism. It’s about power. He wants Russia to be powerful and respected.
Putin has said the break up of the USSR was the worst geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century. He (and many in his regime) are still not over being a FORMER great power. Nor are they over their Cold War paranoia mindset (think of it as the USSR version of the rightwing red baiter types in the US).
NATO is just as bad as Russia lmao anyone who sais otherwise does not know anything about history,
I’m not saying this to defend Putin tho he’s just as evil imo.
If you look at Biden’s record we have seen support him again and again war so of course he wants another one, They just one Europe to use the gas from another country, he just made a deal with Qatar. At the end he expects the EU to be a puppet of US interests like it has always been.
Who suffers in all this bullsh*t? the citicens of ukraine and russia
“NATO is just as bad as Russia,” really? I’m sorry but that is insane. You don’t need to be any kind of hawk to recognize a distinction between Putin’s Russia and the North American Treaty Organization.
And if you concede that Putin is “evil,” you really need to reckon with the logical conclusions from that statement. This is a man who has poisoned his political enemies, had them thrown out of windows, and led brutal crackdowns against anyone who dares breathe a word of criticism against him. He’s also allowed oligarchs to become obscenely wealthy while millions of Russians live in poverty.
Seeing Americans make this a “both sides are bad” equation with no real awareness of what’s really happening in Russia — and what’s been happening for decades — is amazing.
100% agree with @Maida
Adding to what she said: Putin thinks Russia is entitled to a “sphere of influence” (in line with the old USSR) and he and his rotten, paranoid, crooked regime have a freak out anytime one of those countries he thinks Russia has the right to control moves toward the West.
I say Ukraine is entitled to it’s own SOVEREIGNTY. If the people of Ukraine want to join EU they should have the right to petition to join. The same holds for them joining NATO.
But here is the thing,
Ukraine ISN’T about to join EU or NATO and nothing has happened recently to move Ukraine any closer to joining either organization.
So Putin can’t even use his abuser logic (‘Ukraine PROVOKED me into doing this by taking action X”) to explain his actions. He has no defense here.
I’m sorry but no. In no way in hell is NATO as bad as Putin and his rotten, paranoid, criminal regime.
He should be considered an international pariah, PERIOD.
@mmcaav: Sweetie, that is literally a deranged thing to say. I’m Ukrainian-American. Have family in Ukraine. I have spent the past month with knots in my stomach and now haven’t been sleeping for the past two weeks. And I can tell you it’s not because of NATO. It’s because a delusional fascistic goblin claims my homeland doesn’t have a right to exist and it’s peoples’ shared national conscience is Leninist creation. NATO did not colonize my homeland for centuries. NATO did not create an artificial famine in my homeland that killed millions of people in order to exterminate Ukrainians. NATO did not forcibly resettle members of my family twice in their lifetimes in order to steal from them. NATO did not send my grandfather to a Siberian labor camp for a decade.
NATO is a DEFENSIVE alliance that Eastern bloc nations happily joined because of Russia’s imperialist tendencies. The United State and its allies are not innocent on the world stage, but this is a false equivalence. Please read literally any history book that doesn’t center America and Western Europe. Ukrainian people don’t support joining NATO because they want to be some kind of global imperialist superpower. They want to join the defensive alliance so that Putin and his cronies are materially deterred from doing what he’s doing now, which is literally murdering Ukrainian citizens on Ukrainian soil with impunity.
Well said. I am so sorry your family is going through this. Hopefully it won’t be as bad as many fear.
The US and NATO want to apply sanctions as if Putin cared. The only thing he cares about is power, and he has China as an ally, and they have deep pockets.
If Putin is allowed to do whatever he wants then it’s game over. He needs to be stopped, by any means necessary. I believe diplomacy has left the group chat.
I descend from ukranians who were forced out by Russia. My country’s stupid, incompetent, asinine President wil side with Russia, because that’s where his cheap ideollogy lies. It wasn’t enough we helped Nazi Germany during WWII, now we will side with Russia.
Considering China is doing its damnest to get their hands on Taiwan, this invasion is gonna give them ideas if successful.
I also totally believe that Japan and South Korea are gonna be in play as well in our lifetime.
Russia and China are also in Latin America.
I understand this seems like an European war but unless the US intervenes with their war power, Putin will take over everything he wants. Russia seems to perpetuate they are polar opposite to the US and on that alone the US should try to keep Russia contained. People forget the world is a sphere and Russia is closer to the US than most people usually realize.
Russia needs to stop this, completely.
But then can we also stop the US from spreading shit? Russia is horrible (Putin, specifically), but pretending the US is a world hero that never stirred up a lot of shit and caused damage all over the world while posing as “righteous “ is laughable. China, Russia AND the US are responsible for a lot of bad things.
And Biden has not been a world good leader in my opinion (does anyone care about Afghanistan anymore? Or is it not fashionable anymore?). Being on the Democrat’s side doesn’t mean I’ll act as a cheerleader for anyone, citizens’ jobs is to criticize the people in power when they are not doing their job right, regardless of how “likable“ they are. It’s a job, and the population should act as the boss.
As other commenters have said, this isn’t a really a genius take or anything special. It’s a middle of the road, not really informed statement. Ya she isn’t trump but that’s a low bar. Personally I question her judgement since she is in such a toxic relationship and allows herself to be treated like garbage by a cheater and files for divorce multiple times to teach him a lesson and still brings more kids into the situation. I think she comes across as more intelligent than people expect but I don’t think she has enlightened views.
What she’s saying is that no matter what the citizens lose, whether it’s in Ukraine, Russia, or even the US. I’m not saying we shouldn’t impose sanctions if that’s the only leverage we have besides military action. But those sanctions affect everyday Russians more than Putin. So Putin is hurting both Ukrainian citizens and his own people. And since Russia is allied with China, to whom we owe a huge financial debt, this could bite us too. There are no easy solutions.
Right, but the citizens lose because of Putin’s actions, not NATO’s. This isn’t a both-sides situation. This is one nation invading against a sovereign nation because they want to claim it as their own. Saying you’re “not on NATO’s side” in this situation means that you’re OK with the overthrow of a sovereign nation.
If she was simply recognizing that the consequences for Russia’s military invasion will harm a lot of people, she’d be saying something completely different. People are bending over backwards to make her statement better than it is.
Agreed, and I’m not sure why they are!
Agreed. She didn’t say anything remarkable. She’s completely missing the point and basically throwing NATO and Russia into the same pot. Her words make her look like she didn’t do any research about the topic.
Sadly, I think a lot of western media has turned this situation into some kind of proxy war between NATO and Russia, and it’s just not the full story. At the center are flesh and blood human beings who literally fought for their right to be a prosperous independent sovereign nation. And that doesn’t even include centuries of struggle to be seen as anything other than “the borderland.” I’m glad Cardi B is trying to center that people are the ones who are going to pay the price for Putin’s imperialist derangement syndrome. But by framing this as some kind of struggle precipitated by both NATO and Russia, she undermines support for those people she claims to be so concerned about. The reason to be on NATO’s side is because it’s the ONLY recourse Ukraine has as a nation to guarantee its existence in the face of Russia’s imperialist aggression.
I’m not surprised she has this view and landed on this framing. North American and Western European media can’t help but tell this story in a way that centers their own importance and their own perspective. I just wish more people who listen to people who live in Ukraine and/or specialize in the region (spoiler alert: most of the pundits and public intellectuals opining on the Russia crisis in western media don’t actually know what they’re talking about). The journalists of the Kyiv Independent and The New Voice of Ukraine provide excellent English-language coverage of what’s happening in Ukraine during this crisis (and beyond!). I also really rate Olga Tokariuk, Maksym Eristavi, Terrell Starr, and Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon (doesn’t live in Ukraine, but is a PhD student specializing in Ukrainian, German, and Russian history and provides excellent context).
This is an easy one, Cardi. The leaders could focus on other things *if* Putin weren’t trying to invade another country. To side with the citizens is to side with the Ukrainians who are in real danger and have no control over their situation. The countries who stand ready to defend said citizens from the literal threat of death are members of NATO…the power play is all Putin.
This comment section is so….. American. Just because Putin is terrible doesn’t mean NATO is the good guys. Just saying