Remember when snack selection sparked the most controversial Super Bowl halftime debate? Cheetos vs Doritos. Hot wings vs. garlic knots. And who the hell brought the carrot sticks?!
Now Turning Point USA, a far-right organization founded MAGA activist Charlie Kirk killedhas left its followers with a more difficult choice: who should play the Super Bowl LX halftime show?
Never mind that the NFL already announced earlier this month that the Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny hit the spot. Turning Point USA announced Thursday that it will be holding own counter-program to protest the league's choice. It'll be called “The All-American Halftime Show” – and that's for sure there won't be be in Spanish.
Since the NFL announced that Bad Bunny (real name Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio) would host the Big Game on Feb. 8 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, critics have decried the decision as an attack on Americanism.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said ordering Bad Bunny was a “terrible decision.”
President Trump, who admitted he had never heard of Bad Bunny before the Super Bowl announcement in late September, said the NFL's invitation to the performer was “absolutely ridiculous.”
White House adviser Corey Lewandowski said it was “shameful that they decided to pick someone who seems to hate America so much.”
However, compared to other artists and celebrities who have widely criticized the president and his policies, Bad Bunny is not all that political or outspoken. However, he expressed concern that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could detain fans at his concerts. Last month, the artist said he would not be booking US dates for his tour due to concerns that fans would be carried away by ICE. “There was a question that… like, ICE might be out there. [my concert]. And that’s something we’ve talked about and been very concerned about,” he said. iD magazine.
This was enough to brand Bad Bunny an enemy of the MAGA staff and characterize his Super Bowl show as part of a larger, more hostile Latino invasion.
But let's call it this: Politicians and their pundits are using Hispanic phobia to gain votes, influence and donations. The artist represents the population that has been targeted by the current administration through unconstitutional sweeps of brown people in American cities, regardless of their immigration status. Bad Bunny is a US citizen, like many people without a criminal record who have been detained and even deported. Denigrating the artist and those who look and sound like him has garnered votes for the right and distracted them from concerns about the fragile economy and skyrocketing cost of living under Trump.
Turning Point advertises the planned counter-program as a “Celebrating Faith, Family and Freedom” show and asks followers to weigh in on the genres of music they would like to hear on the alternative halftime show. First option on the ballot? “Everything is in English.”
The survey is located right below the donate button, and there is another option to click “yes” to approve receiving “periodic automated promotional messages and fundraising texts from Turning Point.”
Despite the fact that the 79-year-old president had never heard of the hugely popular artist before, Bad Bunny is a three-time Grammy Award winner, a global superstar and has surpassed Taylor Swift's position on the Billboard chart in the US.
So who does MAGA think she can upstage Bad Bunny on the unofficial Super Bowl spinoff show? House Speaker Johnson suggested “God Bless the USA” singer Lee Greenwood would attract a “wider audience.” But how Diversity As noted, the 1980s country icon has fewer than 500,000 listeners on Spotify, compared to Bad Bunny's 80 million.
Turning Point USA appears to be working on this issue. “Performers and event details will be available soon,” the website said.
During his Saturday Night Live appearance last weekend, Bad Bunny poked fun at the MAGA craze surrounding his upcoming Super Bowl show by delivering his monologue in Spanish. He sincerely thanked his fans for recognizing the contributions of Latinos in the United States. He then concluded by switching to English: “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”
It remains to be seen whether chips, salsa and guacamole will be the next fundraising target of the right's performative outrage. Make pretzels great again.
