Source: Politics<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump\u2019s MAGA movement furiously denounced Bad Bunny\u2019s Super Bowl LX halftime show, denigrating the Puerto Rican superstar and claiming he does not truly represent America.<\/p>\n
Trump, who previously called Bad Bunny a \u201cterrible choice\u201d<\/a> to head up the NFL\u2019s largest annual broadcast, chimed in with complaints<\/a> about the show\u2019s first-ever mostly-Spanish performance: \u201cNobody understands a word this guy is saying,\u201d he wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post<\/a>.<\/p>\n At Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, Bad Bunny delivered a 13-minute homage to his homeland, weaving through a sugarcane field studded with bodegas and a traditional casita. His show was lauded by fans as a vibrant celebration of Puerto Rican heritage \u2014 but Trump and MAGA faithfuls weren\u2019t so convinced.<\/p>\n Benito Antonio Mart\u00ednez Ocasio, the Puerto Rican-born singer better known as Bad Bunny, made his Super Bowl debut in 2020 alongside Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. But since the NFL announced him as the Super Bowl headliner in September, he became a focal point for conservative ire \u2014 thanks, in part, to his high-profile political activism.<\/p>\n An outspoken critic of the Trump administration\u2019s hard-line<\/a> immigration crackdown, he declared \u201cICE out\u201d onstage at last week\u2019s Grammy Awards \u2014 where his album “DeB\u00cd TiRAR M\u00e1S FOToS” made history as the first all-Spanish record to snag the show\u2019s coveted album of the year trophy \u2014 and left viewers wondering what message he might have for the millions of football fans tuning into his set.<\/p>\n But Bad Bunny did not directly call out any of the president\u2019s policies or supporters during his Super Bowl show. The only English he spoke during Sunday\u2019s show was him saying, \u201cGod bless America,\u201d as he was marching off the field with a procession of Latin and South American flags \u2014 led by the U.S.\u2019s flag. He then spiked a football that read: \u201ctogether, we are America.\u201d<\/p>\n His show also referenced the island\u2019s long-struggling power grid<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the hours after the performance, MAGA allies took issue with the show\u2019s mostly-Spanish discography and Puerto Rican inspiration.<\/p>\n \u201cWas a single word of English spoken during the Super Bowl Halftime Show?\u201d Nick Adams, Trump\u2019s pick to become ambassador to Malaysia, wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cSomeone needs to tell Bad Bunny he\u2019s in America. This is an abomination.\u201d<\/p>\n Far-right influencer Laura Loomer railed against his set in a series of X posts, urging border czar Tom Homan to deploy an immigration raid on site<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing American about any of this,\u201d she wrote<\/a>. \u201cThis isn\u2019t White enough for me. Cant even watch a Super Bowl anymore because immigrants have literally ruined everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, MAGA-friendly influencer Jake Paul urged his X followers to \u201cturn off this halftime,\u201d<\/a> decrying Bad Bunny as a \u201cfake American citizen performing who publicly hates America.\u201d Paul, who was recently seen with Vice President JD Vance at the Olympics in Milan, received swift blowback online, including from Paul\u2019s own brother, Logan. <\/p>\n Many, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/a> (D-N.Y.), pointed out that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens \u2014 and that Paul himself has been living there since 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other figures within the president\u2019s orbit echoed their disapproval. Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino reacted to Bad Bunny\u2019s performance in a podcast episode on Rumble<\/a> titled \u201cKid Rock > Sad Bunny,\u201d telling viewers the show \u201csucked.\u201d<\/a> Meanwhile, Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, wrote on X that she and her family \u201caren\u2019t watching him.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Conservatives did rally behind alternative programming. Turning Point USA, the conservative organizing group founded by Charlie Kirk, aired a rival halftime show<\/a> headlined by longtime Trump ally Kid Rock, drawing support from Republican officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and House Speaker Mike Johnson, who praised the event.<\/p>\n