Trump silent on TPUSA halftime performance as president bashes Bad Bunny’s multicultural performance
President Donald Trump has shared a sharp critique of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance but has stayed silent on Turning Point USA’s counter-programming show.
One might assume the president would have tuned in to the conservative network’s show featuring Kid Rock and country singers Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett.
However, videos from the president’s Mar-a-Lago Super Bowl watch party show Bad Bunny’s performance plastered onto the big screens.
TPUSA announced its own show after conservatives expressed outrage that the ‘woke’ Puerto Rican singer would be performing his show in Spanish.
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl 60 halftime show included a star-studded lineup featuring Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, Cardi B, Pedro Pascal, Jessica Alba and received mostly positive reviews from mainstream critics.
Despite catering to the president’s conservative tastes, however, there is no indication that Trump watched TPUSA’s show.
Rather, the president seemed more fixated on Bad Bunny, sending off a harsh critique of the halftime show on Truth Social Sunday evening.
‘The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!’ Trump reacted. ‘It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence.’
A video posted on X shows President Donald Trump speaking with Lindsey Halligan at Mar-a-Lago as Bad Bunny performs at halftime in the background
Bad Bunny’s halftime show is expected to have drawn between 135 – 142 million viewers
Kid Rock performing at the TPUSA All American Halftime Show. The stream on YouTube reached a peak of 6.1 million viewers on Sunday evening
‘Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the USA, and all over the World.’
The White House did not respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment on whether the president tuned into the TPUSA performance and instead forwarded the president’s social media post on Bad Bunny’s show.
If Trump did not watch the TPUSA show, it would serve as a notable setback for the conservative group’s attempt to court conservatives away from the NFL’s stream.
It would also mean the president tuned out one of his favorite performers and allies, Kid Rock, who appeared with Trump in the Oval Office last year.
When asked last week what halftime show Trump would watch, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insinuated it would be TPUSA’s event.
‘I think the president would much prefer a kid Rock performance over Bad Bunny. I must say that,’ she said.
TPUSA slammed the NFL’s decision to host Bad Bunny and labeled its event as a counterbalance to ‘Bad Bunny’s woke circus.’
Trump and Kid Rock are known to be friendly and have made many public appearances together, including at UFC 296 in 2023, as shown above
Trump is also close with Erika Kirk, the widow of TPUSA’s late founder Charlie Kirk
In total, the TPUSA show garnered over 6.1 million concurrent viewers on its YouTube channel on Sunday, according to The Athletic.
By comparison, though the numbers are not finalized, Bad Bunny’s performance is expected to have drawn between 135 – 142 million viewers.
Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show during Super Bowl 59 last year drew over 133 million views, the most for any halftime show in history.
The final ratings for Bad Bunny’s show are expected to be released sometime this week, but it’s expected to be the most-watched halftime in Super Bowl history.
According to a YouGov poll released on Friday, a wide swath of Americans indicated they would prefer the Puerto Rican singer over the TPUSA production.
That survey found that 35 percent of respondents prefer Bad Bunny to the Kid-Rock-headlined TPUSA show. Just 28 percent indicated they were more interested in the TPUSA halftime show.
