A MAGA Super Bowl halftime show to rebut Bad Bunny expresses what ails America | Opinion
A conservative Super Bowl halftime show to rebut Bad Bunny singing in Spanish at the real Super Bowl in Santa Clara on Sunday represents our nation’s cultural divide.
The dueling performances reflect the tension between people who live in the same country but different worlds. Bad Bunny, the Latin music star from Puerto Rico, exempilfiies Americans whose ancestors either didn’t come from Europe or don’t identify with Europe. At 31, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Bad Bunny is his stage name, is the biggest-selling artist in the world who got there interpreting music with roots in the Caribbean and Africa. His sensibilities are urban, his politics are liberal, and his fans are ethnically and racially diverse.
On the other side, Turning Point USA , a conservative non-profit founded by slain influencer Charlie Kirk, is staging a virtual “All-American” halftime show headlined by Kid Rock. A conservative artist who puts his own spin on rap and rock, Kid Rock is a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and will be joined by a slate of country music artists who appeal to a more rural fan base.
The symbolism of Kid Rock and country artists taking on Bad Bunny says a lot about our country and this moment in our history. On Friday, two days before the Super Bowl, we learned that Trump, the Commander in Chief, put out a racist video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes.
Later deleted, the message of Trump’s post comes from the same place motivating his supporters to stage their own Super Bowl Halftime show. This MAGA world view is predicated on striking back at people they view as illegitimate. The Obamas as apes and an “All American” Super Bowl halftime reflect the same mindset.
It’s a mindset that is all too common in our country.
I lived in Nashville, the heart and soul of country music for many years. On any given night, the neon-lit streets of Lower Broadway pulsed with life.
Bachelorette parties, decked out in matching pink sashes and plastic cowboy hats, cruised by on roofless party buses, letting loose with the signature “woos” at passersby whenever traffic stopped them at a red light. The air buzzed with the mingled scents of spilled beer, hot chicken, and urine, as every corner promised another country anthem and another toast.
The country music, the alcohol, and the celebratory shouts created a conservative enclave for those entering Music City. This insular environment reverberates across the country, drawing in listeners who find comfort in its familiar, if alienating, culture.
A prime example of that came in 2023, when country artist Jason Aldean released the song “Try That in a Small Town,” an alt-right anthem that pushed the idea that all city-dwelling liberals are foolish elitists who are disrespectful to police. It was largely deemed as a rallying cry for conservatives but was also criticized as an inept portrayal of both small towns and big cities across the nation.
And as Turning Point USA prepares its alt-right counter Super Bowl halftime show, the bubble that country music creates is now on a national scale.
A weird halftime show
Kid Rock’s 15 minutes of fame between the late 1990s and early 2000s gives the show its star power, if you can call it that.
Other artists include Brantley Gilbert, a country-rock artist from Georgia. His latest single, released in October, is titled “Real American.”
It’s no surprise that this all-white lineup includes artists with a clear political stance, but Turning Point will have you believe it’s just about giving the country some variety.
“The All-American Halftime Show is an opportunity for all Americans to enjoy a halftime show with no agenda other than to celebrate faith, family, and freedom,” a Turning Point USA spokesperson said in a statement.
Right, because nothing says family like a performance by Kid Rock, whose bar in Nashville has a giant neon sign featuring a woman’s butt.
White privilege is thinking that a group of no-name artists and a fading star can compete with a Puerto Rican megastar who just became the first Latino artist to win a Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
Much of country music is centered around comfort, offering fans steady reassurance that validates their conservative beliefs — no matter how radical or exclusionary those beliefs may be. Country music as a genre sometimes reinforces a tribal mindset, drawing sharp lines against outsiders or dissenters.
Americans should recognize this country music counter-halftime show for what it is: a petty spectacle. Just as conservatives co-opted the word “woke” as a catch-all for liberal influence, they’re now using Bad Bunny’s concert as supposed proof that the country is headed in the wrong direction. This narrative isn’t true.
If our country can’t withstand a 13-minute concert performed by a Puerto Rican, then we have much bigger problems on our hands than music.
This story was originally published February 7, 2026 at 5:00 AM.