House speaker Mike Johnson has joined the chorus of criticism after Bad Bunny was chosen to perform the Super Bowl halftime show.
The Puerto Rican artist was recently announced as the act for next year’s end-of-season finale – despite backlash from Donald Trump and some of his supporters, one of whom argued Bad Bunny ‘seems to hate America.’ Trump called the decision ‘crazy’ and ‘absolutely ridiculous.’
Bad Bunny – who was born Benito Antonio Martinez – previously cited ICE agents as a reason he did not include any mainland US dates for his upcoming tour. And, on Tuesday, the speaker of the House of Representatives said the Puerto Rican was a ‘terrible’ choice.
Bad Bunny is among the most streamed artists on Spotify but Johnson said he would rather 82-year-old country singer Lee Greenwood had been selected.
‘I didn’t even know who Bad Bunny was. But it sounds like a terrible decision in my view from what I’m hearing,’ he told Migrant Insider.
‘It sounds like he’s not someone who appeals to a broader audience and there are so many eyes on the Super Bowl – a lot of young, impressionable children.
Bad Bunny mocked his critics about the decision to let him do the Super Bowl halftime show
Donald Trump called the decision to give the show to the Puerto Rican rapper ‘crazy’
‘And, in my view, you would have Lee Greenwood or Role Models doing that. Not somebody like this.’ Greenwood recently appeared on stage with Trump at the memorial service for Charlie Kirk.
The president addressed the Bad Bunny controversy on Monday night, telling Newsmax: ‘I never heard of him, I don’t know who he is, I don’t know why they’re doing it, it’s crazy… I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.’
Trump’s ally, Corey Lewandowski previously claimed ‘it’s so shameful they picked someone who seems to hate America.’
Lewandowski also confirmed that ICE agents will be patrolling San Francisco during the Super Bowl.
‘There is nowhere you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,’ he said. ‘Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find and deport you. That is a very real situation.’
Bad Bunny was the host of ‘Saturday Night Live’ over the weekend and, during his opening monologue, he addressed his haters.
‘You might not know this but I’m doing the Super Bowl halftime show and I’m very happy and I think everyone is happy about it – even Fox News,’ Bad Bunny said.
A heavily-edited clip then played, stitching together the comments of various Fox anchors and pundits so that they said: ‘Bad Bunny is my favorite musician and he should be the next president.’
Lee Greenwood recently appeared on stage with Trump at the memorial service for Charlie Kirk
‘It sounds like a terrible decision in my view, from what I’m hearing,’ Mike Johnson said
The president told Newsmax that he was unfamiliar with the 31-year-old musician (right)
He continued: ‘Thank you. Wow, thank you. But really, I am very excited to be doing the Super Bowl and I know that people all around the world who love my music are also happy.’
The rapper than spoke in Spanish for several seconds before finishing his monologue by saying: ‘If you did not understand what I just said… you have four months to learn!’
In the Spanish portion of his monologue, Bad Bunny took another shot at his critics and thanked those who paved the way for him.
‘Especially all of the Latinos and Latinas in the world here in the United States who have worked to open doors,’ he said.
‘It’s more than a win for myself, it’s a win for all of us. Our footprints and our contribution in this country, no one will ever be able to take that away or erase it.’
