Kristi Noem says the NFL “sucks’ for choosing Bad Bunny to be the Super Bowl 2026 halftime performer.
Speaking on the “Benny Show,” Kristi Noem, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, said:
“The NFL sucks and we’ll win and God will bless us and we’ll stand and be proud of ourselves at the end of the day and they won’t be able to sleep at night because they don’t know what they believe and they’re so weak. We’ll fix it.”
Social media has been quick to point out that Bad Bunny is, in fact, a U.S. citizen, having been born in Puerto Rico, whereas numerous other Super Bowl halftime performers - including Rihanna, Shakira, U2, The Who, The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney - are not U.S. citizens.
Bad Bunny, 31, recently wrapped up his Puerto Rican residency earlier this month that drew hundreds of thousands of fans to his shows. He is set to host the season premier of “Saturday Night Live” Oct. 4.
He is one of the most widely streamed artists in the world—but MAGA loyalists are outraged at the NFL due to Bad Bunny’s outspoken criticism of President Donald Trump. Benny Johnson, a right-wing podcaster, slammed the NFL’s decision in a statement on social media platform X.
“This is Bad Bunny.He was just announced as the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show,” Johnson wrote on X, adding that the performer is a “Massive Trump hater,” an “Anti-ICE activist,” and doesn’t have “songs in English.”
Johnson then criticized Bad Bunny for his decision not to tour in the United States due to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across the country.
“The NFL is self-destructing year after year,” Johnson said.
Bad Bunny told i-D Magazine earlier this month that while his previous shows in the U.S. were “magnificent,” he was concerned about ICE showing up at his concert.
“But specifically, for a residency here in Puerto Rico, when we are an unincorporated territory of the U.S. … People from the U.S. could come here to see the show,“ he said. ”Latinos and Puerto Ricans of the United States could also travel here, or to any part of the world. But there was the issue of — like, f---ing ICE could be outside (my concert). And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about."
Lauren Sforza of NJ Advance Media contributed reporting.
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