By Ediberto Román and Ernesto Sagás
Soon after the NFL’s announcement that Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny would headline the Super Bowl halftime show, conservative media outlets and Trump administration officials went on the attack.
Homeland Security head Kristi Noem promised that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “would be all over the Super Bowl.” President Donald Trump called the selection “absolutely ridiculous.” Right-wing commentator Benny Johnson bemoaned the fact that the rapper has “no songs in English.” Bad Bunny, conservative pundit Tomi Lahren complained, is “Not an American artist.”
Bad Bunny – born Benito A. Martínez Ocasio – is a superstar, one of the top-streaming artists in the world. And because he is Puerto Rican, he’s a U.S. citizen, too.
To be sure, Bad Bunny checks many boxes that irk conservatives. He endorsed Kamala Harris for president in 2024. There’s his gender-bending wardrobe. He has slammed the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policies. He has declined to tour on the U.S. mainland, fearing that some of his fans could be targeted and deported by ICE. And his explicit lyrics – most of which are in Spanish – would make even the most ardent free speech warrior cringe.
And yet, as experts on issues of national identity and U.S. immigration policies, we think Lahren’s and Johnson’s insults get at the heart of why the rapper has created such a firestorm on the right. The spectacle of a Spanish-speaking rapper performing during the most-watched sporting event on American TV is a direct rebuke of the Trump administration’s efforts to paper over the country’s diversity.
The Puerto Rican colony
Bad Bunny was born in 1994 in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated U.S. territory that the country acquired after the 1898 Spanish-American War.
It is home to 3.2 million U.S. citizens by birth. If it were a state, it would be the 30th largest by population, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
But Puerto Rico is not a state; it is a colony from a bygone era of U.S. overseas imperial expansion. Puerto Ricans do not have voting representatives in Congress, and they do not get to help elect the president of the United States. They are also divided over the island’s future. Large pluralities seek either U.S. statehood or an enhanced form of the current commonwealth status, while a smaller minority vie for independence.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
But one thing is clear to all Puerto Ricans: They’re from a nonsovereign land, with a clearly defined Latin American culture – one of the oldest in the Americas. Puerto Rico may belong to the U.S. – and many Puerto Ricans embrace that special relationship – but the island itself does not sound or feel like the U.S.
The over 5.8 million Puerto Ricans that reside in the 50 states further complicate that picture. While legally they are U.S. citizens, mainstream Americans often don’t see Puerto Ricans that way. In fact, a 2017 poll found that only 54% of Americans knew that Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens.
The alien-citizen paradox
Puerto Ricans exist in what we describe as the “alien-citizen paradox”: They are U.S. citizens, but only those residing in the mainland enjoy all the rights of citizenship.
A recent congressional report stated that U.S. citizenship for Puerto Ricans “is not equal, permanent, irrevocable citizenship protected by the 14th Amendment … and Congress retains the right to determine the disposition of the territory.” Any U.S. citizen that moves to Puerto Rico no longer possesses the full rights of U.S. citizens of the mainland.
Bad Bunny’s selection for the Super Bowl halftime show illustrates this paradox. In addition to criticisms from public figures, there were widespread calls among MAGA influencers to deport the rapper
This is but one way Puerto Ricans, as well as other Latino citizens, are reminded of their status as “others.”
ICE apprehensions of people merely appearing to be an immigrant – a tactic that was recently given the blessing of the Supreme Court – is an example of their alienlike status.
And the bulk of the ICE raids have occurred in predominantly Latino communities in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. This has forced many Latino communities to cancel Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations.
Bad Bunny’s global reach
The xenophobic fervor against Bad Bunny has led political leaders like House Speaker Mike Johnson to call for a more suitable figure for the Super Bowl, such as country music artist Lee Greenwood. Referring to Bad Bunny, Johnson said “it sounds like he’s not someone who appeals to a broader audience.”
But the facts counter that claim. The Puerto Rican artist sits atop the global music charts. He has over 80 million monthly Spotify listeners. And he has sold nearly five times more albums than Greenwood.
That global appeal has impressed the NFL, which hopes to host as many as eight international games next season. Additionally, Latinos represent the league’s fastest-growing fan base, and Mexico is its largest international market, with a reported 39.5 million fans.
The Bad Bunny Super Bowl saga may actually become an important political moment. Conservatives, in their efforts to highlight Bad Bunny’s “otherness” – despite the United States being the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world – may have unwittingly educated America on the U.S. citizenship of Puerto Ricans.
In the meantime, Puerto Ricans and the rest of the U.S. Latino community continue to wonder when they’ll be accepted as social equals.
Ediberto Román is Professor of Law at Florida International University. Ernesto Sagás is Professor of Ethnic Studies at Colorado State University.
Deborah Coffey says
Of course. America’s conservatives and MAGAs simply can’t help putting their ugly racism and bigotry on full display for the entire world to witness. It’s FASCISM at its best and it is who they are. Sickening.
Ed P says
Or maybe….
Because 93% of fan base is under 44?
Da’kiti is considered his biggest hit, in Spanish,
Known primarily for Spanish language music with some cross over into English language music….so who thought Spanish rap is mainstream America?
Just a guess, maybe 25% of Super Bowl viewers ever heard a Bad Bunny song prior to his announcement and searching for one
Sometimes when a refrigerator isn’t cold, the fuse is blown. The simplest answer is sometimes “right”
Land of no turn signals says says
Boo-Hoo bunny can perform elsewhere.Everybody I know doesn’t want to watch him at all never mind the superbowl.Half time. Half time shows have been deplorable for the last several years.
Laurel says
Okay, this is just more shit stirring by the current administration to distract us from important issues. Why else does Trump, and his sycophants, have their noses in every aspect of our lives? Hey Trump, what can I have for lunch today?
You cannot walk around Miami Beach without hearing salsa. We all happily danced to Gloria Estefan, and also the Macarena! No one cared about Kentucky Fried Chicken becoming KFC, but today, interestingly enough, the change of the Cracker Barrel logo is a traumatic event! No one gave a damn about the gulf was called the Gulf of Mexico, but now…
Epstein files? Healthcare? Insurances? Home affordability? Food costs? Ukraine? No. Bad Bunny sings in Spanish, that’s a problem with the right. Really? This is your concern?
Land of no turn signals says says
Amazing that anything anti Trump Debbie has a lot to say no matter the topic.How many albums does she have of bad bunny?PLEASE!!!
Mr. Bill says
Hey NFL!
This is the 2nd year you deliberately bent the knee to Woke–ism and gave the finger to middle America and our children.
Do you really hate Trump and middle America this much?
Hope an alternative half time show can be arranged. Either way, advertisers…… I don’t believe middle America will agree or support your products if you support with your advertising dollars this poke in the eye to the rest of us.
I support changes to the NFL.
Bo Peep says
The real reason is because he is a weird person and we are trying to get away from weird not embrace it anymore.
Skibum says
Well, the sane among us believed drumph when he said he loved the uneducated. And to that point, it seems that many of those uneducated people have jobs at fauxinfotainment and other maga media outlets because some of them still think that Bad Bunny is a foreigner, possibly an undocumented “alien” who has no right to be the halftime entertainment at the upcoming Super Bowl. Even if he were not an American citizen, which he is, Bad Bunny is a SUPER STAR with more with more fans streaming his music than any other performer in the entire world!
Latin music is not my preferred genre of music, and neither is rap. But the NFL’s choice of halftime entertainment is unsurprising due to the singer’s hundreds of millions of fans out there. For those who don’t enjoy his music, don’t watch the halftime show! I have skipped other halftime performances of musicians I didn’t care to listen to or watch.
But to have maga mush brained conservatives try to force the NFL to cancel Bad Bunny’s performance after they already booked him for the Super Bowl’s show, to try to prevent millions and millions of his fans from the enjoyment of seeing him perform at probably the most watched sports event of the year is beyond contemptable! And yes, it is what the maga extremists ALWAYS do… they don’t like something, so they demand that NOBODY else should get to enjoy what they decide is crap, or woke, or vile, or disgusting, or whatever the soup de jour term they are using at the time to describe what they want banned.
Books the maga extremists don’t like? BANNED!
Words the maga extremists don’t like? BANNED!
Laws the maga extremists don’t like? OVERTURNED!
American history maga extremists don’t like? REVISED!
American education programs maga extremists don’t like? DEFUNDED!
Government programs maga extremists don’t like? ABOLISHED!
Government employees maga extremists don’t like? FIRED!
Constitutional freedoms and protections maga extremists don’t like? IGNORED!
Newly elected members of Congress maga extremists don’t like? REFUSAL TO SWEAR THEM IN!
Democrat majority congressional districts maga extremists don’t like? GERRYMANDER THE STATE MAPS FOR THE GOP!
I’m so tired of the whiny maga extremists who are STILL not satisfied even with a maga extremist president, a maga gerrymandered majority in both houses of the U.S. Congress, many more maga appointed federal judges sworn in, yet NOTHING is sufficient and the maga mush brains demand MORE and MORE control of people’s lives, more unconstitutional bans and loss of freedoms and protections for the American people, and more crybaby pouting by the uneducated fools who put maga morons in elected positions so they can take more away from Americans and give to themselves and their rich friends!
We need MORE people like Bad Bunny and a lot less of those like drumph and his cadre of fools, and a whole lot less of the uneducated sheeple who keep putting them into positions of power… yes, I’m looking at YOU, Bo Peep! Quit your POUTING and WHINING… it’s a very unattractive look!!!!!!!!!
Laurel says
Trump keeps his maga minions laser focused on the petty.
Nephew Of Uncle Sam says
Bo Peep says
October 22, 2025 at 4:10 pm
“The real reason is because he is a weird person and we are trying to get away from weird not embrace it anymore.”
So a United States citizen is “weird” or it’s because he’s from Puerto Rico that he’s “weird”? His music or performance is not “weird” to millions of his fans so that must not be it. His music is not my cup of tea yet I’m not going to call him “weird”. You do know you can switch at half-time, if you watch the game, and tune into a re-run performance by Up With People on your favorite channel then.
Sherry says
Make the NFL players, half time shows and fans ALL “White/Christian/American English Speaking” again! Right Maga? How dare those uppity “better athletes/better musicians” “REPLACE” White ones! Right Maga? OOPS! Your slip is showing. . . LOL! LOL! LOL!
Hammock Bear says
Never heard of Bad Bunny. Does not matter as we will watch the Other Half Time show.
The dude says
All you old MAGAs can watch Kid Rock and George Strait.
Name me one Super Bowl Halftime show here in the 21st century that HASN’T “enraged” MAGA?
Sherry says
Right On Dude!
it's simple says
You have the right not to watch– you don’t have the right to dictate who performs!