An All-American halftime show? What’s that supposed to mean? After reaching out to Turning Point SSU and receiving no reply, I guess I’ll have to figure it out myself.
Turning Point USA held an alternative halftime show on Sunday, Feb. 8 in protest of the NFL’s decision to have Bad Bunny perform at this year’s Super Bowl. Turning Point dedicated a webpage to announce the performance along with the words, “Celebrating faith, family, and freedom.” Sounds harmless enough, right? But what prompted the creation of this alternative halftime show in the first place? Let’s look at the facts.
After the NFL announced Bad Bunny as the 2026 Super Bowl halftime performer in Sept. 2025, it sparked outrage in conservatives who immediately began to question Bad Bunny’s citizenship, language, and perceived ideals. “The NFL just chose the Bad Bunny rabbit or whatever his name is. This guy who hates ICE, he doesn’t like you, he accuses everything he doesn’t like of racism,” said American conservative television host Greg Kelly to Donald Trump during a Newsmax interview. Trump called the NFL’s decision “absolutely ridiculous” and has heavily criticized Bad Bunny since the announcement.
American journalist, attorney and media personality Megyn Kelly said, “To get up there and perform the whole show in Spanish is a middle finger to the rest of America. Who gives a damn that we have 40 million Spanish speakers in the United States?” While using a mocking tone, Kelly said, “This is supposed to be a unifying event for the country. Not for the Latinos, not for one small group. But for the country. We don’t need a Black national anthem, we don’t need a Spanish speaking non-English performing performer.” So who or which cultures would be an acceptable choice to have performing during this primetime entertainment event?
I can make an educated guess. Turning Point announced that their halftime performance would feature Kid Rock, Lee Brice, Brantley Gilbert, and Gabby Barrett. To start the show, Gilbert said, “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the All-American halftime show. Let’s get to it. This is real American,” which implies that Bad Bunny’s performance is non-American, even though he is from Puerto Rico, a federally recognized U.S. territory, making Bad Bunny a U.S. citizen. So the outrage isn’t about being American, it’s about conforming to the far right’s beliefs of what an American should look or act like. Turning Point’s “All-American” halftime show sends a not so subliminal message that says: No, we don’t accept you.
It’s no secret that far right groups like Turning Point wish to restore America to its original “traditional values,” but because the United States was founded on the idea of white supremacy, words like “traditional” or “original” become synonyms for white. According to the Pew Research Center, the U.S. House of Representatives stands at 72% white as of 2025, and the Senate stands at 84%. With only 15% of the U.S. House and 5% of the Senate being younger than 44, it calls a few things into question. As a nation, do we truly believe that baby boomer far-right white conservatives are all born from humanitarians and activists? Probably not. How could we not question if the far-right still holds the same sentiments as their forefathers?
Despite this, Bad Bunny still managed to represent our culture as Americans through diversity, inclusivity and unity. At the end of his performance, Bad Bunny acknowledged countries from North, Central, and South America including Peru, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, and yes, the United States. Far-right conservatism creates a facade of exclusion because they don’t want to be included; they don’t want to be considered equal to those they consider ‘other.’
Bad Bunny’s performance represented something more powerful than hate. He represented love. He provided us with a striking reminder, “English is not my first language. But it’s okay, it’s not America’s first language either.”
