‘The All-American Halftime Show’ Was Created To Counter Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Performance and They’re Not Even Hiding It
Bad Bunny headlining the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show caused a whole conversation on social media about who should and shouldn’t perform. There were more than a few people claiming that the honor should go to an American, which Bad Bunny is but that’s a different discussion. In response, Turning Point USA is putting together “The All-American Halftime Show.” Here’s what that means.
“The All-American Halftime Show” is in the works
Turning Point USA, the organization founded by Charlie Kirk and now run by his wife, is putting together “The All-American Halftime Show.” The organizers bill the show as a way to take back pop culture and promise a lineup featuring Christian artists. The show is a not-so-veiled attempt to make Latino and other non-white Americans feel like they aren’t part of American culture. It all stems from the NFL announcing Bad Bunny as the headliner for the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.
The official website for “The All-American Halftime Show” lets people suggest the theme for the show. The organizers list one of the options simply as “Anything in English.”
The idea was first floated by some after Bad Bunny told people that they had four months to learn Spanish to understand his upcoming show. The comment really angered MAGA and conservatives, who are still trying to claim that Bad Bunny, who was born in Puerto Rico, is not an American.
Despite being one of the biggest musical artists in the world, some are pretending not to know who he is. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La. 4th) claimed he didn’t know about Bad Bunny. Though Speaker Johnson did suggest 82-year-old Christian singer Lee Greenwood as an alternative. Greenwood responded to Speaker Johnson’s comment, saying that he would be glad to headline the Super Bowl.
“I’ve never, I never heard of him. I don’t know who he is. I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s, like, crazy,” President Donald Trump said when asked about Bad Bunny. “Then they blame it on some promoter that they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it’s — I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
The protest halftime show adds to growing anti-Latino sentiment
This isn’t a new trope. For years, MAGA has been working to otherize the Latino community. However, the anti-Latino and anti-immigrant sentiment has exploded since 2020. A study from LULAC helps to explain the intense reaction to Bad Bunny headlining the Super Bowl halftime show. It also explains why “The All-American Halftime Show” is even a thing.
“A New Wave of Hate” published by LULAC studied anti-immigrant legislation on a state level from 2020 to 2024. The study found that anti-immigrant legislation grew exponentially from 2020, with 51 anti-immigrant bills, to 2024, with 233 anti-immigrant bills. In total, state legislators introduced 561 anti-immigrant bills between 2020 and 2024. Republicans exclusively sponsored 546 of those bills, making up 97.3 percent of the total. There were only 14 such bills with bipartisan sponsorship.
“The current GOP platform is steeped in anti-immigrant rhetoric, reinforcing the hostile language that has characterized many political speeches but has not always translated into concrete policy changes,” reads the LULAC study. “The official RNC platform reflects this sentiment through a series of quotes that echo the nativist themes we’ve seen in recent years.”
You can read the full “A New Wave of Hate” study from LULAC here.
The growing anti-immigrant sentiment is inherently anti-Latino
MAGA politicians and followers might not be calling Latinos by name, but they are targeting the community directly. Videos show Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents chasing farmworkers, targeting day laborers, and patrolling Latino neighborhoods. The current immigration crackdown focuses almost exclusively on Latinos.
In early September 2025, the Supreme Court gave permission to ICE agents to racially profile Latinos. The court’s decision, focused on Los Angeles, grants ICE agents the authority to harass people for speaking Spanish, working in jobs largely held by Latinos, or being in certain neighborhoods.
“We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent of the decision. “Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent.”
Republicans are fueling a culture war against immigrants and Latinos, and it’s turning into physical action.“The All-American Halftime Show” and the backlash about Bad Bunny is a different spoke on the same wheel. It is a cultural nod to the movement that has vilified our community. The claims that Bad Bunny is somehow not American, despite being born in Puerto Rico, is an extension of the claims that Latinos are somehow less American than non-Latinos.
