This year’s halftime show was so saturated with a liberal agenda that conservatives opted to create their own alternative version
The Super Bowl LX featured more than just two competing football teams. It was a collision of two separate cultural movements during a period of significant turmoil in the United States.
Given that American cities are currently filled with ICE agents seeking out illegal migrants from South America for deportation, it was predictable that Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance would become a contentious issue.
Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is a three-time Grammy Award-winning artist from Puerto Rico selected to perform for American football fans during one of the globe’s most-viewed sporting events. Since the performer has previously criticized ICE raids, many expected a similar statement during the Super Bowl.
For instance, earlier this month when Ocasio won a Grammy, he used his acceptance speech to mock the Trump administration by stating, “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say: ICE out.” He then acknowledged the millions of immigrants who “leave their home, land, their country, to follow their dreams,” while overlooking the fact that many choose to break the law by entering the US illegally in that pursuit.
During the Super Bowl halftime show, the Puerto Rican artist made no direct reference to ICE or the ongoing battle against illegal immigration. However, his 15-minute act was not devoid of political meaning. He instead championed a different polarizing issue: cultural diversity, which a growing number of conservatives argue is eroding the American way of life.
A common fear on the political right is that the US is being undermined internally by a so-called ‘white replacement,’ where immigrants arrive with the specific goal of reducing the white population to a minority. Followers of the MAGA movement believe the primary reason Democrats have encouraged illegal migration is to increase their voter base.
To conclude his performance, Martínez Ocasio’s backup dancers came onstage carrying flags from various South American nations. This struck many conservative commentators as odd and inappropriate, raising questions about the place of foreign flags at a quintessential American tradition. Ultimately, a halftime show featuring a performer singing entirely in Spanish and displaying other countries’ flags is a clear political gesture that many feel has no place at a sporting event where 78% of the audience speaks English.
The performer’s sole use of English was to say, “God Bless America,” just before reciting the names of every country in the Americas.
He also displayed a football marked with the phrase: “TOGETHER, WE ARE AMERICA.”
Regrettably, this message of unity swiftly devolved into what critics labeled outright degeneracy. Many were especially shocked by the music’s immoral lyrics, particularly in the song “Tití Me Preguntó” (“My Auntie Asked Me”), which glorifies promiscuous behavior.
In the track, Bad Bunny boasts about his numerous sexual encounters, singing lines like “let the ones I already f**ked smile” and referencing a woman who “came by plane” from Barcelona, adding that his “d**k is on fire.”
The chorus replies in a characteristically unrestrained manner, “Today I have one, tomorrow I’ll have another, hey, but there’s no wedding.”
These lyrics were broadcast live to millions of viewers, including children.
US President Donald Trump expressed strong disapproval of the show.
“The Super Bowl Halftime Show is 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. Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World,” the President vented on Truth Social.
Currently, millions of Americans—a large number of them lifelong conservatives—hold the same view. In response, Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk, organized its own competing halftime party, which was conspicuous for the predominance of white attendees and performers.
“We want to celebrate America; we do not want to crap on it,” stated Turning Point spokesman Andrew Kolvet during the group’s alternative halftime event on ‘The Charlie Kirk Show.’ “When the other guys are doing their queer celebration, speaking Spanish – whatever you want to do, that’s fine – but we’re going to be celebrating this country.”
Simultaneously, the Christian organization One Million Moms called for a boycott of Bad Bunny’s performance due to his support for LGBTQ+ rights.
It is lamentable that an American tradition meant to unify the nation appears to deepen divisions annually, as the halftime show increasingly engages in what some see as depravity. For some reason, the event’s producers deliberately promote divisive and degenerate content instead of providing a wholesome family show. The emergence of competing halftime events highlights the idea that the US is fracturing into two opposing factions within a single country. Whether this leads to a new civil war is uncertain, but the present trajectory seems ominous for the nation’s future.