Over 100 million viewers were presented with a choice at halftime of the 2026 Super Bowl: stick with Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny’s performance on NBC or tune into an alternative show featuring Kid Rock that was hosted by the right-wing organization Turning Point USA.
While counterprogramming has happened during past Super Bowls, it has never been this political. The NFL’s selection of Bad Bunny, who sings primarily in Spanish, to do the halftime show led to fierce backlash from the Right, mostly due to his outspoken criticism of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda. It sparked a boycott from President Donald Trump and his Cabinet, who have appeared at some of the biggest sporting events over the past year but passed on traveling to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, for the game.
The criticism culminated in Turning Point hosting its own program dubbed the “All-American Halftime Show,” which will feature Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett. Bad Bunny retains a huge following, though, setting up what has turned out to be a significant cultural clash on the sidelines of the big game.
Here’s how the two performances went down on Sunday night.
Bad Bunny’s performance
Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, came out on the field of Levi’s Stadium shortly after 8 p.m. Eastern time, donning an all-white suit with a jersey over it and singing “Titi Me Pregunto,” a song he released in 2022.
His outfit disproved rumors that he would wear some sort of dress during the performance, which instead saw him switch to the suit for most of the 13-minute performance.
The show included him singing 14 of his hit songs as he navigated an island-themed set, likely a nod to his hometown in Puerto Rico. It included numerous surprise guests, most notably Lady Gaga, who sang in English. Bad Bunny sang entirely in Spanish, though he did throw in a “God Bless America” message at one point.
It ended with performers running across the field with numerous flags, mostly of countries in the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. flag was prominent in the final act.
While not explicitly political, Bad Bunny’s performance did include a nod to his Grammys speech last weekend, in which he said “ICE out.” The reference occurred when he handed a Grammy award to a boy who could be seen watching the speech on a TV set. For most of the show, he was also holding a football that had the message “Together, we are America” written on it.
Turning Point’s alternative show
Turning Point’s “All-American Halftime Show” began with an electric guitar version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” followed by songs from country musician Brantley Gilbert, Gabby Barrett, Lee Brice, and finally Kid Rock.
Kid Rock, who was by far the main act and is a vocal supporter of Trump, walked out to “Bawitdaba,” which rocked the crowd present in the venue. He later played a cover of “Til You Can’t” by Cody Johnson.
The show was held at a small venue that had patriotic imagery displayed on the walls. Despite not being held at a bigger stadium, there was still an in-studio audience present, though nothing approaching the number of people at Levi’s Stadium.
While Bad Bunny’s performance had the advantage of being live at the game, Turning Point’s show brought in a sizable number of streamers. That number was above 4 million on the YouTube stream for most of the 30-minute show and appeared to peak at around 4.8 million.
Trump administration’s reaction
Despite previously saying he wouldn’t watch the official Super Bowl halftime show with Bad Bunny, President Donald Trump nonetheless weighed in on it in a screed posted to Truth Social.
He called it “absolutely terrible” and “an affront to the Greatness of America,” while expressing displeasure with Bad Bunny singing in Spanish and the performers’ dance routine.
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“The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER! It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence. Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World,” the president posted.
“This ‘Show’ is just a ‘slap in the face’ to our Country, which is setting new standards and records every single day — including the Best Stock Market and 401(k)s in History! There is nothing inspirational about this mess of a Halftime Show and watch, it will get great reviews from the Fake News Media, because they haven’t got a clue of what is going on in the REAL WORLD,” Trump added.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth also suggested he skipped Bad Bunny’s performance in favor of Turning Point’s event, posting on X that he and his family were watching the latter event.