Please Stop Trying To Hold The Obamas Accountable For Beyoncé’s Lyrics

Donald Trump has said some inappropriate things about women. But — according to a host of female GOP pundits — Beyoncé has said worse. Tasked with defending a leaked 2005 recording of Trump making lewd comments, three conservative talking heads have instead placed Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj in the crosshairs of the maelstrom. Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, and Betsy McCaughey have cited Beyoncé and Minaj's lyrics as evidence that Hillary Clinton and the Obamas are the real misogynist mouthpieces. One problem: It seems that none of these women have actually spent a lot of time listening to the artists they're trying to besmirch. Exhibit A: In the wee hours of October 14, Ann Coulter did a quick Google search of the dirtiest Beyoncé lyrics she could find. She tweeted her findings: "Beyonce, cited by Michelle Obama as role model for her daughters, sings about 'pussy curvalicious, served delicious.' Oh my. I just fainted."

But it looks like Coulter fainted before getting a handle on who said what. Those aren't actually Beyoncé's words. Coulter tweeted a line from Nicki Minaj's verse in the pair's remix of "Flawless." Exhibit B: Laura Ingraham — perhaps after seeing Coulter's tweet — Googled Nicki Minaj, and decided to double down the spurious logic. "N.Minaj met w/Obama…her lyrics?" she tweeted. “'Real country-ass n*gga, let me play w/ his rifle P***y put his *ss to sleep…'"

Exhibit C: Earlier this week, McCaughey was a guest on CNN Money, where she countered criticism of Trump's "grab her by the pussy" comment with lyrics from Beyoncé's "Formation," because these statements — from a presidential candidate and a pop icon respectively — were apparently of comparable impropriety. Beyoncé and Minaj are worthy role models for multiple reasons. Their music is their own, and these songs aren't endorsements of anything other than female empowerment. But it doesn't really matter what music President Obama listens to or whom Hillary Clinton says she's a fan of — these are random song lyrics, not the actual words of an opposing party's presidential nominee.