A few weeks later, it appears conservatives are still upset about Bad Bunny being picked to perform the Super Bowl halftime show.

Bad Bunny’s selection is the perfect litmus test for America at the moment. It’s not a surprising choice, considering he and Taylor Swift are the top two most streamed artists on Spotify. But it has been a controversial one, especially among Trump’s MAGA supporters.

“So you heard about this guy, Da Bunny? Is that his name? Bad Bunny? Bad, Bad Bunny!” Newsmax’s Greg Kelly fulminated. “Now we have Da Bunny, who hates America, hates President Trump, hates ICE, hates the English language! He’s just a terrible person.”

“It’s so shameful they’ve decided to pick somebody who seems to hate America so much to represent them at the halftime show,” Corey Lewandowski, a longtime confidant of President Trump who currently advises the Department of Homeland Security, told conservative podcast host Benny Johnson. “We should be trying to be inclusive, not exclusive. There are plenty of great bands and entertainment people who could be playing at that show that would be bringing people together and not separating them.”

The outrage grew so intense conservatives announced an alternative choice of country singer Lee Greenwood for the Super Bowl.

It is disingenuous to argue Bad Bunny (real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) is anti-American, given the fact Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917. He’s also the winner of multiple Grammys and has four No. 1 albums on the American Billboard pop charts. He even has Super Bowl experience – he performed during halftime back in 2020 with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira.

Bad Bunny has been a passionate and vocal spokesperson on issues affecting Puerto Rico and its relationship with America. In a recent interview, he stated he did not include the continental United States within his latest tour because he was concerned that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would target his fans. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said immigration agents would be “all over” the Super Bowl, confirming the Trump administration’s heightened focus on immigrants. Her special assistant, Corey Lewandowski, was even more explicit: “We will find you, we will apprehend you, we will put you in a detention facility and we will deport you.”

Such rhetoric by top government officials proves that Bad Bunny’s concerns are well-founded.

NFL chose Bad Bunny for the same reason Jimmy Kimmel’s return to his late night talk show after his suspension resulted in record ratings, that “South Park” is experiencing some of its most robust and solid ratings in years, and that Target’s sales have plummeted since it dropped its DEI efforts. Despite what many right-wingers would have you believe about “go woke, go broke,” the truth is going woke is good for business! There is a lesson here for Democrats trying to sell themselves to an increasingly skeptical America that doubts the party’s ability to move the ball down the field, much less win the big game. Get proactive, not defensive!

Bad Bunny is not the only music star under siege. Country music star Zach Bryan has found himself in the political crosshairs for his attacks on ICE agents in his songs. The backlash against Bad Bunny and Zach Bryan resembles previous controversies, such as the boycott of Bud Light following its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and The Chicks’ (previously known as the Dixie Chicks) experience after speaking out against the Iraq War. In The Chicks’ case, the controversy attracted an entirely new set of fans both domestically and globally, and helped expand their music base to pop music. They won multiple Grammy Awards at the 2006 Grammys.

Any reasonable person would realize that a bunch of woke, politically correct liberals do not run the NFL. It may be safely argued that the majority of NFL fans are politically right leaning, in the center, or nonideological and apolitical. In fact, most team owners tend to lean MAGA, having donated $23 million to Republicans in the 2024 election, versus $2.5 million to Democrats.

Bad Bunny has made political commentary a centerpiece of his performances for years. He seemed to relish the recent blowback when he hosted the season opener of “Saturday Night Live.” His mere selection as halftime performer has elicited such controversy that it has likely animated people from across the political spectrum to tune in to view his hotly anticipated performance next year.

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Copyright 2025 Elwood Watson, distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate

Elwood Watson is a professor of history, Black studies, and gender and sexuality studies at East Tennessee State University. He is also an author and public speaker.