Kristina Karamo, the newly-chosen Republican candidate for Secretary of State in Michigan, believes pop stars like Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande and Beyoncé are contributing to a rise in “paganism and witchcraft.”
In a 2020 edition of her now-defunct podcast It’s Solid Food, Karamo said: “You know, Ariana Grande, she had a song called “God is a Woman” … and at the MTV Video [Music] Awards, she, her performance involved recreating the Last Supper of Christ as a lesbian orgy.
“Then she had the Shiva, which is the Hindu goddess of death, above the supposed lesbian orgy that was the Last Supper. Just total blasphemy. Just total blasphemy.”
In comments revisited by Media Matters, Karamo added: “Billie Eilish … she has a song called “Good Girls Go to Hell.” That’s the name of a song. This is what kids are listening to … these are the people who entertain your kids.”
Karamo accused Beyoncé of pushing her Black fans to embrace paganism, with the support of her husband Jay-Z, who “many people have said, is a satanist. I believe it to be true.”
Karamo cited Beyoncé’s visual album Black is King. “Beyoncé is working overtime to pull more and more Black Americans into paganism and calling it African spirituality. It's hilarious. Actually, it’s not hilarious. It’s sad. It's really sad.”
In another 2020 episode of her podcast, Karamo targeted rap star Cardi B. “Whether she knows it or not — I have no clue — she is a tool of Lucifer,” she fumed. “Cardi B is another tool of Lucifer because she peddles filth in the culture, and she peddles such filth and sexual degeneracy in our culture that many people are laughing at her, and they're laughing because, as we know, her and Megan Thee Stallion came out with this video called “WAP,” or this song. And you already know what it stands for, so I'm not going to say, but it's very obscene.”
Karamo, a community college professor, has said she does not believe evolution should be taught in schools. She reportedly appeared at a rally last year connected to conspiracy group QAnon and has repeated Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was stolen. She has also promoted the falsehood that left-wing activists were behind the attack on the U.S. Capitol last year.