Lil Wayne’s Dedication 4 mixtape featured Nicki Minaj’s most head-turning lyric since that little word on Pink Friday‘s ‘Roman’s Revenge’.

On ‘Mercy’, a straight-faced Minaj appeared to endorse GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, spitting: “I’m a Republican voting for Mitt Romney /You lazy bitches are fucking up the economy”.

Minaj, of course, is always darting between masks, so there was a heavy degree of uncertainty over whether the couplet was comic role-play, a genuine political intervention, or a little bit of both. Chatter about the lyric reached such a fever pitch that, yesterday, President Obama actually weighed in on Minaj’s words himself.

Speaking on Power 953 radio, Obama suggested that he felt Minaj’s ‘endorsement’ was ultimately just a bit of mischief-making: “Yeah, I’m not sure that’s actually what happened. I think she had a song on there, a little rap that said that. But she likes to play different characters. So I don’t know what’s going on there.”

Minaj, in turn, has subsequently made it clear that the line was a prank. Taking to Twitter after Obama’s radio appearance, Minaj wrote:  “Ha! Thank you for understanding my creative humor & sarcasm Mr. President, the smart ones always do… *sends love & support* @BarackObama…Awesome! Now I can tell my grandchildren that the 1st black President of the United States took the time to address a Nicki Minaj question.” [via HipHopDX]

Minaj is about to release a beefed-up version of this year’s schizophrenic Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. President Obama, meanwhile, is quite busy. The Power 953 interview is available below.