Turning Point USA is hosting its own Super Bowl halftime alternative after MAGA had a full-blown meltdown over the NFL tapping Latino artist Bad Bunny to perform.
On Thursday, the conservative think tank founded by late far-right activist Charlie Kirk, announced “The All American Halftime Show.”
“Bad Bunny vs. bad president” by Clay Jones
Little details are known at the moment, but the flyer states that, as opposed to the very American football event, that TPUSA’s show will celebrate “faith, family, and freedom.”
Bulwark reporter Will Sommer shared via X that Creed has been floated as a potential performer.
TPUSA has set up a survey to find out just what kind of music anti-Bad Bunny fans would want to hear.
The options range from worship music to classic rock and hip-hop, but one option really stands out. At the top of the list, which doesn’t include Bad Bunny’s reggaeton genre, has “Anything in English” as an option.
Bad Bunny, whose full name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, records music that is almost exclusively in Spanish. Despite the artist becoming an international success, this seems to be crossing a boundary for MAGA supporters.
More so, MAGA talking heads seemingly forgot that Puerto Rico, where Bad Bunny is from, is a part of the U.S.
Last weekend, right-wing commentator Tomi Lahren humiliated herself after saying that the musician isn’t American before being swiftly corrected by her guest.
“He’s Puerto Rican. ... That’s part of America, dear,” journalist Krystal Ball explained.
Bad Bunny
Republicans have shared plenty of hot takes on why they think Bad Bunny is a disrespectful choice, including that his music is inappropriate given that it’s not in English.
They’ve also lambasted him for his anti-ICE rhetoric and for canceling a show in the U.S. out of fears that ICE would target fans at his concert.
Of course, ICE has already made it clear that they intend to be patrolling the Super Bowl instead.
But with all of this hate for the Grammy-winning artist, MAGA supporters seem to think older musicians who haven’t released new music in years would fit the bill as a culturally relevant replacement. House Speaker Mike Johnson, for example, suggested country artist Lee Greenwood after saying that Bad Bunny wasn’t a great role model for children. Greenwood, who’s known for his patriotic 1984 hit “God Bless the USA,” told the New York Post that he would love to replace Bad Bunny. The country artist played at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service and is scheduled to sing the halftime show for the Dallas Cowboys, according to the outlet.
Calls for Kid Rock to take over the halftime show came about after a fake, AI slop video of the singer came out. The fake video showed Kid Rock lambasting Bad Bunny for being a “man in a dress,” which, according to the many voices on X, fueled enough anger from people online who didn’t know any better.
Related | Ay, Dios mio! The Super Bowl goes 'woke' with Bad Bunny.
Overall, the right’s obsession with who performs at the Super Bowl seems to boil down to language and U.S. “heritage” of the Caucasian variety.
And while Fox News—a primary source for right-wing thoughts—has a track record of not knowing much about geography when it comes to Latinos (hello, “three Mexican countries”), the U.S.—up until this year—never had an official language. And, whether they like it or not, Puerto Rico is a part of the states.
