Cardi B is challenging the Trump administration’s rhetoric about the coronavirus pandemic and calling out celebrities who have the “luxury” of paying to get themselves tested when other people can’t even afford health care.
“The general public ― people that work regular jobs, people that get regular paychecks, the middle class, the poor ― they not getting treated like ... celebrities. They’re not getting their fucking coronavirus results the next day,” the rapper said in an impassioned four-minute video posted on Instagram.
The 27-year-old said she knew someone under 30 who had cold symptoms but couldn’t be tested unless they were sick for eight days. She also noted that people in their “40s, 50s, 60s” who have symptoms and do get tested are still being sent home to wait for their results.
“What do they think they’re sending people home to? Not everybody have the luxury to go in they fucking bedroom and to go in a big-ass house and just stay away from people. People live in small-ass apartments. A lot of people live in small-ass apartments with multiple people,” she said. “So it’s like, if you’re sending me home and I have the corona fucking virus, I’m most likely gonna give it to my spouse, my kids, anybody that’s around me.”
The “Please Me” singer then described how “celebrities have the luxury to pay $34,000 or whatever the fuck it costs to get tested and get treated,” while poorer people don’t have that option.
“A lot of these people, they don’t fucking have that money. Some people don’t even have enough money to fucking afford health care,” she said.
She also had some choice words for the U.S. government: “I feel like for coronavirus treatments, for testing, for all that shit, I feel like the government should take that shit, should charge that shit to the game, and not charge people for it. This shit could’ve been prevented.”
Many celebrities have revealed they’ve tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, but tests are still hard to come by for the average person. As The Guardian put it, “the rest of us wait: not just for tests, but for the after-effects that a lack of testing will bring upon our communities, and upon the communities of those we love.”
Cardi B hasn’t shied away from being very vocal about the coronavirus on social media, expressing her fears of the pandemic in both serious and humorous ways. DJ iMarkkeyz released a track called “Coronavirus” that’s a loop of her screaming, “Coronavirus! Shit is real! Shit is getting real!” set to a trap beat.
According to NPR, the song first broke “into the pop charts internationally in Bulgaria and Brazil and then rose into the iTunes store’s top 10 in the United States shortly thereafter.”
A HuffPost Guide to Coronavirus
The world is facing a crucial test this week in flattening the curve
8 things people diagnosed with coronavirus want you to know
Doctors answer the most common coronavirus questions
Health care workers are struggling with a shortage of protective gear
27 comfort shows to watch while self-isolating
10 ways to practice solidarity while social distancing
What coronavirus questions are on your mind right now? We want to help you find answers.