Azealia Banks makes anti‑gay tirade and claims ‘liberalism is dead’ on X

US rapper Azealia Banks has been criticised after posting a string of incendiary messages online in which she attacked gay people, rejected liberal politics and declared that the US Democratic Party was effectively finished.

In the posts, shared on her verified account on X, Banks claimed that “liberalism is f**king dead” and said she no longer supported progressive politics, instead expressing a preference for Republican leadership in the United States.

Much of Banks’ outburst focused on gay men, whom she portrayed as politically and socially illegitimate. She said it was “refreshing” to live in the US without what she described as gay men’s “voices and opinions” influencing public life, suggesting that their views should not be a factor in politics or society more broadly.

She went on to accuse gay men of undermining women’s status, alleging that they had “bamboozled” women out of their place in society and diverted funding away from women’s health. Banks claimed this money was instead being used to support gender‑affirming healthcare, which she opposed.

In one of her most heavily criticised remarks, Banks used a homophobic slur and called for gay people to be “defunded”, language that campaigners described as openly hateful. She also suggested that criticism of her comments amounted to persecution, saying she had been labelled a bigot by gay people for “simply saying anything about it”.

Throughout the posts, Banks framed gay men as central to what she described as the collapse of liberalism, repeatedly asserting that the Democratic Party could not recover if it continued to align itself with LGBTQ+ activism.

Banks also referenced the war in Gaza while criticising what she characterised as liberal “guilt‑tripping”, dismissing attempts to appeal to humanitarian concerns and repeating her insistence that “liberalism is over”. She argued that no amount of moral pressure would revive the Democratic Party, which she said was beyond repair.

Banks’ latest comments are consistent with a long record of controversy. In recent years she has claimed that being gay or trans is “not natural”, described LGBTQ+ identities as a result of trauma or mental illness, and promoted claims rejected by medical and scientific authorities. Those remarks have previously led to suspensions from social platforms and the cancellation of festival appearances.