{"id":9945,"date":"2026-02-08T12:37:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T12:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/08\/bad-bunny-to-meet-political-moment-as-maga-fumes-over-super-bowl-show-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T12:37:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T12:37:41","slug":"bad-bunny-to-meet-political-moment-as-maga-fumes-over-super-bowl-show-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/08\/bad-bunny-to-meet-political-moment-as-maga-fumes-over-super-bowl-show-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad Bunny to meet political moment as Maga fumes over Super Bowl show – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

F<\/span>or 13 minutes on Sunday night, Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara will pulse with reggaeton, Latin trap and Caribbean rhythms as Bad Bunny headlines a historic Super Bowl halftime performance, primarily \u2013 or perhaps entirely \u2013 in Spanish. The Puerto Rican megastar, whose songs fuse the raw energy of m\u00fasica urbana, Boricua<\/a><\/em> pride<\/a> and resistance politics, has promised a \u201chuge party\u201d.<\/p>\n

At a moment when masked federal agents are sweeping through American cities, rounding up long-settled immigrants, legal residents and even US citizens, Bad Bunny\u2019s presence on the grandest stage in US sports<\/a> offers a striking contrast \u2013 a joyful celebration of pride and solidarity for millions of Latinos.<\/p>\n

<\/gu-island><\/figure>\n

\u201cBad bunny is much more than his music,\u201d said Vanessa D\u00edaz, co-author of the newly released<\/a> P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance. \u201cHe carries the weight of the history of Puerto Rico.\u201d<\/p>\n

His genre-bending, politically charged artistry reflects the island\u2019s long tradition of \u201cmusic as resistance and dance as joy\u201d, D\u00edaz said, emphasizing that his \u201cmost significant protest songs are also party songs\u201d.<\/p>\n

Last weekend, Bad Bunny won three Grammys, including a historic album of the year win for DeB\u00cd TiRAR M\u00e1S FOToS<\/a>, the first Spanish-language album to receive the industry\u2019s most prestigious prize.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore I say thanks to God, I\u2019m going to say \u2018ICE out\u2019,\u201d he said, accepting the trophy for best m\u00fasica urbana earlier in the evening. \u201cWe\u2019re not savages, we\u2019re not animals, we\u2019re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seven days later, the reigning King of Latin Trap will take center stage at the Super Bowl, an event steeped in patriotism and ritual. Tens of millions of viewers will watch \u2013 and dance, Bad Bunny hopes \u2013 as he rolls through his catalog of chart-topping hits. But long before the first beat drops, Donald Trump\u2019s supporters had seized on the appearance, determined to turn Bad Bunny\u2019s half-time show into an another culture war front.<\/p>\n

Singing in \u201cnon-English<\/a>\u201d at the Super Bowl is not an FCC violation. But outside the stadium, in Trump\u2019s America, speaking Spanish on the street can be a provocation \u2013 or worse, a potential invitation<\/a> for federal agents to stop and question the speaker\u2019s immigration status.<\/p>\n

To perform in Spanish is an \u201cextremely political\u201d act, , D\u00edaz said, even more so now.<\/p>\n

Trump, whose political ascent began more than a decade ago with a promise to defend the homeland from foreign criminals, invaders and all-around \u201cbad hombres<\/a>\u201d, returned to power last year with an even more ambitious goal: to conduct the largest deportation campaign in the nation\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

As the Trump administration has ramped up immigration operations and deportations, citizens have started to carry their US passports<\/a>. Some grocery-shop for relatives less proficient in English. Undocumented parents, too afraid to leave their house, send children to school with neighbors, praying they\u2019ll still be there when they return.<\/p>\n

In Minneapolis, the administration\u2019s crackdown sparked a community-wide resistance that escalated into tragedy with the killings of US citizens \u2013 Renee Good, a mother and a poet, and Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse \u2013 at the hands of federal agents.<\/p>\n

It was also there that the image of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, wearing a blue knit hat with bunny ears as he was detained with his father outside their home in a snowy Minneapolis suburb, became a searing symbol of what more Americans have come to see as the indiscriminate cruelty of the administration\u2019s enforcement campaign.(Though a judge ordered his release from a Texas detention center, his fate in the United States remains uncertain.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a time when we really need a loud and proud voice in the face of the terrorizing of our Latino and migrant communities,\u201d D\u00edaz said. \u201cAnd we need that voice to be in Spanish.\u201d<\/p>\n

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T<\/span>he NFL\u2019s selection<\/a> of a Puerto Rican pop star who does not sing in English, sometimes wears skirts and has openly criticized the Trump\u2019s administration immigration policies was bound to stoke Maga\u2019s rage.<\/p>\n

Conservatives mocked him as \u201cBad Bunny Rabbit<\/a>\u201d and demanded an English-only performance. Right-wing commentator Tomi Lahren claimed he was \u201cnot an American artist\u201d<\/a>. (Puerto Ricans are, of course, US citizens, though they lack representation in Congress and a vote in presidential elections.)<\/p>\n

Turning Point USA, the group founded by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, will broadcast an alternative \u201cAll American\u201d<\/a> half-time show, featuring Kid Rock and a lineup of country singers. \u201cWe plan to play great songs for folks who love America,\u201d the rap-rocker turned Trump ally said in a statement.<\/p>\n

On Capitol Hill, House speaker Mike Johnson told<\/a> the immigration-focused newsletter Migrant Insider<\/a> that he would have preferred an entertainer who represents \u201ctraditional American values\u201d \u2013 someone like the 83-year-old Lee Greenwood, whose song God Bless the USA is Trump\u2019s walk out song.<\/p>\n

Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, warned in October that ICE would be \u201call over\u201d<\/a> the event. California\u2019s governor, Gavin Newsom, has since said that his office was \u201cassured there will be no immigration enforcement tied to the game\u201d.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Trump, who typically loves the spotlight of a major sporting spectacle, recently announced that he would skip the game, calling the selection of Bad Bunny \u201ca terrible choice\u201d. \u201cAll it does is sow hatred,\u201d he told<\/a> the New York Post. \u201cTerrible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many Americans disagree. A Quinnipiac University poll<\/a> conducted in October found that nearly half of Americans approved of the league\u2019s decision, while 29% disapproved. Support broke sharply along partisan, generational and racial lines, with Democrats, young people and Hispanic adults far more likely to express support.<\/p>\n

Last year, Trump became the first president to attend the Super Bowl, watching as rapper Kendrick Lamar headlined the half-time show in New Oreleans. That performance drew more than 133 million <\/a>viewers \u2013 more people than watched the game and more than the number of people who voted in the midterms four years ago.<\/p>\n

This year, however, Trump will tune out at half-time, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, telling reporters the president \u201cwould much prefer a Kid Rock performance over Bad Bunny\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\"Woman<\/picture><\/div>
<\/svg><\/span>Federal agents drag a woman away from her car in Minneapolis after the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis.<\/span> Photograph: Tim Evans\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The NFL, by contrast, is betting on a future that looks and sounds more like Bad Bunny than Kid Rock, as the league aggressively courts Latino viewers to grow its fanbase at home and in Latin America. On Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell praised Bad Bunny as \u201cone of the greatest artists in the world\u201d and a performer who \u201cunderstands\u201d the platform.<\/p>\n

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S<\/span>cholars \u2013 and Bad Bunny fans \u2013 say the right-wing backlash to the Puerto Rican phenom taps into a Republic-old debate: who belongs here<\/em>? It is especially fraught for the residents of US territories, where colonial legacies still shape both identity and history.<\/p>\n

Since Trump returned to office, his administration has sought to redefine who gets to be American, pushing to restrict legal immigration pathways and end birthright citizenship. At the same time, his foreign policy reflects territorial ambitions to expand America\u2019s reach. \u201cThis is OUR hemisphere,\u201d the state department declared<\/a>, after US military forces toppled the Venezuelan leader, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>. Trump has also threatened to seize Greenland.<\/p>\n

At the Grammys, when the South African host Trevor Noah asked Bad Bunny whether he could move to Puerto Rico if things continued to get worse in the US, the pop star offered a wry correction.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrevor, I have some news for you. Puerto Rico is,\u201d he said, using air quotes, \u201cpart of America.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the numbers, Bad Bunny is an undeniable expression of American cultural greatness \u2013 a grocery-store bagger to Super Bowl<\/a> headliner success story that directly challenges Trump\u2019s America First ideology.The 31-year-old global superstar has shattered streaming records \u2013 and become the world\u2019s most listened-to artist \u2013 all without translating his music to English or, observers say, softening his politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t looking for album of the year. I wasn\u2019t looking to perform at the Super Bowl half-time show,\u201d Bad Bunny said on Thursday. \u201cI was just trying to connect with my roots, connect with my people, connect with myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born Benito Antonio Mart\u00ednez Ocasio, Bad Bunny grew up in the in the working-class coastal town of Vega Baja and came of age as part of what scholars call the island\u2019s \u201ccrisis generation\u201d \u2013 a period shaped by prolonged economic recession, crippling public debt, austerity, mass out-migration and devastating natural disasters. In 2017, Hurricane Maria plunged nearly the entire island into darkness, inflicting catastrophic damage. When Trump came \u2013 belatedly, many felt \u2013 to survey the wreckage, he tossed paper towels into a crowd of survivors. The moment has lingered as a symbol of colonial indifference.<\/p>\n

Bad Bunny absorbed those struggles into his art and his politics, said Jorell Mel\u00e9ndez-Badillo<\/a>, an associate professor of Latin American and Caribbean history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who collaborated with the artist to create historical \u201cvisualizers\u201d for his 2025 album.<\/p>\n

A vocal advocate for Puerto Rican independence, Bad Bunny once paused a European tour to join mass protests in San Juan, which forced the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rossell\u00f3. His music \u2013 rooted in reggaeton, trap and traditional Puerto Rican rhythms \u2013 is a deeply personal exploration of Puerto Rican history and identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe inhabits that sort of porosity of what it means to be American \u2013 not in a US sense but in a broader hemispheric sense,\u201d Mel\u00e9ndez-Badillo said. That is why, he believes, Bad Bunny\u2019s music has resonated across the global south, including with indigenous activists, Venezuelan migrants and displaced Palestinians<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The artist\u2019s unapologetic opposition to the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policies has earned him new admirers in the US \u2013 some of whom raced<\/a> to learn Spanish before Sunday\u2019s show.<\/p>\n

Last year, on July 4, Independence Day, Bad Bunny released the music video t0 NUEVAYoL \u2013 a love letter to the Puerto Rican diaspora that featured Trump\u2019s AI-generated voice apologizing to immigrants.<\/p>\n

When Bad Bunny launched his world tour last year, he avoided the continental US entirely, telling i-D magazine<\/a> that he feared ICE agents \u201ccould be outside\u201d his concerts. Instead, he staged a landmark 31-show residency in San Juan titled No me quiero ir de aqu\u00ed<\/em> \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t want to leave here\u201d. It brought hundreds of thousands of people \u2013 and hundreds of millions of dollars<\/a> \u2013 to the island.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did not need the United States, which is the biggest market for pop consumption in the world, to do a sold-out tour,\u201d Mel\u00e9ndez-Badillo said. \u201cThat changes the political conversation at a mainstream level.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A<\/span>fter Trump\u2019s astonishing political comeback, many on the left were convinced that they had lost the culture. Trump, they argued, had captured grievance and spectacle while liberals were left defending institutions and the status quo.<\/p>\n

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\"Man<\/picture><\/div>
<\/svg><\/span>Trump speaks to reporters at the White House on Friday.<\/span> Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2024, Latino voters from Miami-Dade to the Rio Grande Valley to East Los Angeles had rallied behind Trump\u2019s re-election campaign, driven to a large degree by economic anxiety. But that coalition has proved fragile.<\/p>\n

A year into his second term, Latinos have turned sharply against<\/a> Trump\u2019s economic stewardship, while the president\u2019s sweeping immigration enforcement agenda \u2013 once a signature issue \u2013 has started to alienate broad swaths of the American public uncomfortable with its scale and cruelty. Ahead of the midterm elections this fall, both political parties are vying for Latino support.<\/p>\n

Bad Bunny is hardly an emissary for the Democratic party. But his stratospheric success and global reach raises the possibility that Trump\u2019s Maga movement is the cultural sideshow.<\/p>\n

\u201cLatinos have lost every possible policy war since I\u2019ve been in DC,\u201d Pablo Manr\u00edquez, a Washington-based reporter at Migrant Insider, said, ticking through a list of socioeconomic disparities that Congress has done little to address. \u201cBut culturally, we\u2019re winning. Bad Bunny is performing at the Super Bowl.\u201d<\/p>\n

To many Bad Bunny fans, Sunday\u2019s show, which he has dedicated to \u201call Latinos and Latinas around the world and here in the United States,\u201d lands as an act of resistance. It\u2019s a performance they hope will reverberate far beyond the Golden State arena.<\/p>\n

Newsom, California\u2019s Democratic governor and a frequent Trump antagonist, officially declared<\/a> Sunday \u201cBad Bunny Day\u201d. Across the country, the progressive Working Families party is hosting \u201cBad Bunny Bowl\u201d half-time watch parties. Nelini Stamp, a New York-born Puerto Rican who serves as the group\u2019s director of strategy, said the idea was to give fans, and especially Latinos, something \u201cbeautiful\u201d to celebrate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be damned if I let fear take my joy away,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In the lead-up to Bad Bunny\u2019s game-day gig, anticipation has swelled, with speculation \u2013 and bet-placing<\/a> \u2013 about what he might sing, do or wear on stage.<\/p>\n

Will he invoke the Minneapolis crackdown? Will he bring on another Latin star, like in 2020, when he appeared as a guest during the Super Bowl half-time show starring Shakira and Jennifer Lopez in Miami? That production featured children in cages, a visual some interpreted as criticism<\/a> of the first Trump administration\u2019s zero-tolerance immigration policy. Lopez also unfurled an elaborately feathered American flag cape that reversed into a Puerto Rican flag.<\/p>\n

Bad Bunny has refused to drop any \u201cspoilers\u201d in advance, but he has telegraphed a message of unity. Teasing the act in a trailer<\/a> released last month, he grooves with partners of all ages and backgrounds, promising: \u201cThe world will dance\u201d.<\/p>\n

No matter what Bad Bunny does on Sunday night, his presence \u2013 at a stadium named after the denim brand that symbolized America\u2019s westward expansion, during the most-watched game of the country\u2019s favorite sport <\/a>\u2013 is a political statement, said Mel\u00e9ndez-Badillo: \u201cHe\u2019s a colonial subject at the heart of empire.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For 13 minutes on Sunday night, Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara will pulse with reggaeton, Latin trap and Caribbean rhythms as Bad Bunny headlines a historic Super Bowl halftime performance, primarily \u2013 or perhaps entirely \u2013 in Spanish. The Puerto Rican megastar, whose songs fuse the raw energy of m\u00fasica urbana, Boricua pride and resistance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}