The NFL’s Super Bowl LX takes place this weekend, with Grammy-winning Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny headlining the most-watched television event in the United States, attracting more than 100 million viewers each year.
The Halftime Show is a huge and highly coveted stage, which has reflected and shaped cultural trends for years.
Last year, Kendrick Lamar’s headlining performance it shattered every record, with 133.5 million viewers. Bad Bunny is expected to equal, if not exceed, that goal, but certainly not thanks to the MAGA galaxy.
Right-wing media allergic to diversity have been on the barricades for months for choosing the protagonist of the showand many claim that Bad Bunny’s music is “anti-American” and “woke”, conveniently forgetting, in the name of thinly disguised racism, that the singer is a US citizen, given that Puerto Rico is part of the US.
Curious how no one protested when the Canadian Shania Twain or the English Rolling Stones were leading the show…
Donald Trump recently called Bad Bunny “a terrible choice” for the Super Bowl headlining spotand one of his advisors even went so far as to confirm that ICE would have been present at the “shameful” concert.
Despite criticism and many complaints that American football’s biggest night was hijacked by a “left-wing conspiracy,” the NFL did not dump Bad Bunny. Indeed, the organization seems to have relaunched the challenge to Trump, given that he has added to the line-up the rock band Green Daywho has always been very critical of the former president.
The MAGA galaxy was once again raging when the Puerto Rican superstar attacked the Trump administration and ICE while accepting the top award at this year’s Grammyssaying, “Before I thank God, I say: ICE out,” and adding, “We are not savages, we are not animals, we are not aliens. We are human beings, and we are Americans.”
The response from the MAGA front? Counterprogramming.
Turning Point USA – il conservative group founded by Charlie Kirk and today led by his widow Erika Kirk – organized an alternative and competing halftime show, entitled “All American Halftime Show”.
It will celebrate “American faith, family and freedom,” the organization said.
So, who composed this very powerful and not at all disappointing poster on paper?
The headliner will be Trump supporter Kid Rock, joined by country singers Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett.
A real Who’s WHO?
“We’re going into this show like David versus Goliath,” Kid Rock said in a statement released by Turning Point USA. “Competing with the professional football machine and a global pop superstar is nearly impossible… or is it?”
The singer, who hasn’t had a real hit since 2008’s questionable “All Summer Long,” a song he built on a plunder of Lynyrd Skynyrd, added: “He said he’s going to have a dance party and wear a dress and sing in Spanish? Good. We intend to play great songs for people who love America.”
Good luck with this plan, considering the “Goliath” he summoned ousted Taylor Swift to become the most streamed artist on Spotify in 2025 and last weekend he made history as the first Spanish-speaking artist to win the Grammy for Album of the Year with “I SHOULD TAKE MORE PHOTOS“.
The All-American Halftime Show is scheduled for the same night as the 2026 Super Bowl – Sunday, February 8 – at an as yet undisclosed location. It will air on four conservative networks: DailyWire+, TBN, Charge! and Real America’s Voice. It will also be available for streaming on Turning Point USA social channels.
Bad Bunny is unlikely to lose sleep over this initiative, especially since the alleged “all-American” values that Turning Point USA flaunts seem to have nothing to say about Kid Rock’s unedifying lyrics.
Indeed, ahead of the protest show, Mr. Rock’s song “Cool, Daddy Cool” was back in the spotlight online, whose lyrics include the lines: “Young ladies, young ladies / I like ’em underage / See, some say that’s statutory / But I say it’s mandatory.”
Maybe that’s what “American faith, family, and freedom” really sound like.
The NFL’s Super Bowl LX will take place on Sunday, February 8. NFL security chief Cathy Lanier recently said in a security briefing that, despite previous statements from the Trump administration, ICE agents will not be among the federal agencies present at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
