Trump trashes ‘terrible’ Super Bowl show
Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny’s performance in Spanish was “an affront to the Greatness of America,” the US president has said
US President Donald Trump has lashed out at the Super Bowl LX halftime show by Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, calling it one of the worst ever.
The performer, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, delivered an exclusively Spanish-language set in front of 70,000 spectators, supported by numerous Hispanic dancers. He was joined by another Puerto Rican pop star, Ricky Martin, as well as Lady Gaga, the only one to sing in English. The performance concluded with a parade of Latin American and Caribbean nations' flags while Bad Bunny held up a football inscribed with “Together we are America.”
Trump, who is facing an intense backlash from left-wing celebrities and activists over his crackdown on illegal immigration, took to his Truth Social platform later in the day, describing the halftime show as “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!”
“It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence… This ‘Show’ is just a ‘slap in the face’ to our Country,” he wrote.
The president also questioned Bad Bunny’s rapping skills, saying that “nobody understands a word this guy is saying” and called the dancing “disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World.”
The Trump administration previously backed the alternative All-American Halftime Show by Turning Point USA, which was staged by the Conservative NGO in memory of its founder Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated last year. It featured Kid Rock and country signers Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett as well as a lot of pyrotechnics.
Bad Bunny’s show set an all-time Super Bowl record of 142.3 million viewers, while Turning Point USA’s rival performance was watched by 5.7 million people, according to the live stream.
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The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 29-13 during the Super Bowl, becoming NFL champions for the second time.