Almost as soon as news broke Sunday that Bad Bunny would be the halftime performer for Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium, pro-Trump conservative figures jumped on social media to express their outrage about the NFL giving such a global platform to a musician who sings in Spanish and who has been a vocal critic of the president’s hardline anti-immigration policies.
For his part, the Puerto Rican-born artist dubbed the “King of Latin Trap” celebrated his high-profile Halftime Show gig at the Feb. 8, 2026, game at the San Francisco 49ers Stadium in Santa Clara as a victory for the Latino community. “What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” Bad Bunny said in a statement. “It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown … this is for my people, my culture and our history. Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL.”
The Grammy-winning singer, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, also a shared congratulatory post from California Gov. Gavin Newsom on social media. “California is excited to welcome you to Super Bowl LX,” Newsom wrote.
Moreover, local support for Bad Bunny’s upcoming starring role in the “one of the most anticipated and iconic musical performances in the world” came from the Bay Area Host Committee president and CEO Zaileen Janmohamed.
“We are confident that Bad Bunny will deliver an unforgettable experience for fans in Levi’s Stadium and watching globally,” Janmohamed said in a news release. “This selection further amplifies the Bay Area’s position as a premier destination for world-class events, and we look forward to a spectacular show that showcases the unique spirit and diversity of our region.”
Indeed, the Super Bowl is consistently the most-watched television program of the year, with more than 130 million people viewing last season’s Halftime Show featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar, the New York Times reported.
This fact was not lost on right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson, who amassed more than 39,000 likes for a post on X in which he shared a laundry list of grievances against Bad Bunny, aka Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, a global superstar, known for such hits as “MIA,” “I Like It,” “Me Porto Bonito”” and “Dákiti.”
“Massive Trump hater; Anti-ICE activist; No songs in English … The NFL is self-destructing year after year,” Johnson wrote. He also cited Bad Bunny’s statement about refusing to incorporate the mainland United States into his latest tour because of concerns that his fans would be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In response to Bad Bunny’s concerns about ICE raids, someone, replying to Johnson’s post, said that ICE should be at the Super Bowl, checking people’s papers, “especially Bad Bunny’s crew and their families. This is how we heal as a nation.”
Perhaps anticipating such a response, Bad Bunny posted on social media before the Super Bowl announcement: “After discussing it with my team, I think I’ll do just one date in the United States.”
Another Trump-aligned pundit, Robby Starbuck, railed against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell for making the Super Bowl “political” by building a halftime show around Bad Bunny. “The guy literally says he isn’t touring the U.S. because of Trump’s ICE raids and just released a video mocking President Trump,” Starbuck wrote on X. “This is not a pick designed to unite football fans or let people just enjoy the show. It was a pick designed to divide fans and no doubt Bad Bunny will find some way to push a woke message.”
“Does this guy really scream American football to anyone?” Starbuck continued. “Be for real with me. No one thinks he does. This isn’t about music, it’s about putting a guy on stage who hates Trump and MAGA.”
Conservative journalist Owen Shroyer called for a more MAGA-friendly halftime show, according to the Daily Beast. He said such a show could be led by Creed, whose frontman Scott Stapp is the brother-in-law of Mike Waltz, Trump’s former national security adviser who was just named ambassador to the United Nations.
In recent weeks, there also had been rumors that Taylor Swift could be the halftime act for Super Super Bowl LX, while Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich recently told Howard Stern that it would be “a dream come true” for his band to perform at this Super Bowl because it’s being played in the Bay Area. But he also said they had not been approached.
As for Bad Bunny being a “political choice,” he has been vocal about social issues affecting Puerto Rico, according to news reports. He also threw his support behind Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election, following an offensive comment that comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made about Puerto Rico at a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in October. Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” and said that Latinos “love making babies.”
In endorsing Trump’s opponent, Bad Bunny shared a video from Harris in which she said: “There’s so much at stake in this election for Puerto Rican voters and for Puerto Rico.” Harris also decried Trump’s response to Hurricane Maria in 2017 during his first administration, when the Republican leader came off as anything but “a caring and competent leader.” At the time, Trump drew criticism while visiting the island to survey the damage and playfully tossing paper towels into a crowd of residents. Harris said: “He abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults.”
Bad Bunny also took up the issue of the Trump administration’s response to Hurricane Maria in one of his more recent songs, “Una Velita.”
In an interview Monday morning with Apple Music, Bad Bunny said he’s “always doing everything with purpose” and suggested that he uses his music to advocate for Puerto Rico and for his community. He also said he was still trying to figure out what he would do for the halftime show, which is being produced for the seventh time by Roc Nation, the entertainment and sports company founded by the billionaire rapper Jay-Z.