President Trump is not jazzed about Bad Bunny’s upcoming performance at the Super Bowl — though he doesn’t even know who the Puerto Rican megastar is, allegedly.
In a Monday interview with Newsmax, Trump was asked by presenter Greg Kelly if he had any thoughts on the recent announcement that Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, would be the halftime performer at next year’s Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, Calif.
“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 on racism,” Kelly told Trump. “Do you think maybe we should just entertain blowing off the NFL, like a boycott or something along those lines?”
Trump replied, “I’ve never heard of him. I don’t know who he is.” He added, “I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s crazy. And then they blame it on some promoter they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
The “Tití Me Preguntó” artist has been vocal in lambasting the Trump administration’s immigration policies. In an interview last month, Bad Bunny said he didn’t plan any continental U.S. dates for his “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” world tour, citing concerns over ICE enforcement outside his concert venues.
“There was the issue of — like f— ICE could be outside [my concert],” he told i-D. “And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
“There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the U.S., and none of them were out of hate — I’ve performed there many times,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed connecting with Latinos who have been living in the U.S. 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.”
Kristi Noem, the secretary of Homeland Security, told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson last week that ICE agents would be “all over” the upcoming Super Bowl venue.
“I have the responsibility for making sure everybody goes to the Super Bowl, has the opportunity to enjoy it and to leave,” Noem said. She went on to say that only “law-abiding Americans who love this country” should plan on attending the big game.
Corey Lewandowski, an advisor to Noem, also made comments to Johnson last week about what the ICE situation would look like at the Super Bowl.
“There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” Lewandowski said. “Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you. We will apprehend you. We will put you in a detention facility and we will deport you.”
Trump and these government officials are the latest in a litany of online voices that have spiraled out about Bad Bunny’s upcoming gig.
In his “Saturday Night Live” opening monologue last weekend, the “Baile Inolvidable” singer responded to the right-wing backlash he has received in recent weeks.
“I’m very happy,” he said of getting to perform at the Super Bowl. “And I think everyone is happy about it. Even Fox News.”
A spliced video then popped up on the screen, stitching together a series of Fox News anchors saying, “Bad Bunny is my favorite musician and he should be the next president.”
Bad Bunny then gave remarks about the weight of his momentous halftime show in Spanish.
“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.”
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