Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Role Sparks GOP Outrage

Bad Bunny drew fireplace from Trump-aligned officers after the NFL named him the headliner for the 2026 Super Bowl halftime present in Santa Clara, California. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and longtime Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski each criticized the choice and warned of immigration enforcement on the occasion.

Noem, talking on “The Benny Show,” blasted the NFL’s management for choosing the Puerto Rican-born reggaeton star. “They suck, and we’ll win, and God will bless us, and we’ll stand and be proud of ourselves at the end of the day,” she stated. “They won’t be able to sleep at night because they don’t know what they believe, and they’re so weak, we’ll fix it.”

ICE Presence Threatened at Super Bowl LX

Noem confirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers shall be current on the 2026 championship, stating, “We’re going to enforce the law. So I think people should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless there are law-abiding Americans who love this country.”

Lewandowski echoed her stance, warning undocumented immigrants to keep away from the sport. “There is nowhere you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” he stated. “Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you and apprehend you and put you in a detention facility, and deport you.”

He additionally criticized the NFL’s selection of performer. “It’s so shameful they’ve decided to pick somebody who seems to hate America so much to represent them at the halftime show,” Lewandowski stated.

Bad Bunny Previously Canceled U.S. Tour Over ICE Concerns

The Grammy-winning artist, whose full identify is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, beforehand canceled his U.S. tour dates this yr over considerations about potential ICE focusing on of Latino concertgoers. In a September interview with i-D journal, he stated, “There was the issue of — like, f—ing ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”

Despite the criticism, Bad Bunny is a U.S. citizen. Puerto Ricans have held American citizenship since 1917 beneath the Jones Act.

White House Walks Back ICE Operation Talk

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to mood the hypothesis a few formal ICE operation on the Super Bowl. “As far as ICE being at the Super Bowl, as far as I’m aware there’s no tangible plan for that in store right now,” she stated. However, she bolstered the administration’s stance on immigration enforcement: “This administration is always going to arrest and deport illegal immigrants when we find them if they are criminals.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security added, “There is no safe haven for violent criminal illegal aliens in the United States.”

The NFL confirmed Bad Bunny’s halftime gig in late September, making him the primary reggaeton artist to headline the present. Super Bowl LX is scheduled for February 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

Related