"When Turning Point USA announced it was staging an "All‑American Halftime Show" to protest Bad Bunny's performance, I braced for a fascist clown rodeo: a flags-and-Jesus spectacular for people who think Spanish lyrics are a globalist psy-op and dancing is a gateway drug to drag brunch (which is itself, of course, a gateway to hell). What we ended up receiving last night was arguably worse: a fascist clown snoozefest."
"For those lucky enough to be out of the know, the All‑American Halftime Show was billed as a "patriotic" alternative for those easily triggered viewers that simply could not stomach a beloved Puerto Rican superstar singing in Spanish at the Super Bowl. Turning Point wrapped it all in language about "faith, family, and freedom," slapped Charlie Kirk's ghost on the poster, and sold it as a pure, wholesome counterpoint to the degenerate spectacle of... a straight couple getting married in real time on the field."
"Kid Rock popped up on Fox to promise a "classic rock in-your-face opener" for "people who love America, love football, love Jesus," because nothing says moral clarity like the guy who once recorded a song about liking underage girls now moonlighting as a guardian of family‑friendly decorum. But as he put it, "We're approaching this show like David and Goliath. Competing with the pro football machine and a global pop superstar is almost impossible...or is it?" As it turns out: Yes. It is."
Turning Point USA staged an All‑American Halftime Show as a patriotic counterprogram to Bad Bunny's Super Bowl performance, invoking faith, family, and freedom. The event leaned on nationalist imagery and conservative culture-war rhetoric, featuring endorsements from Charlie Kirk and a promised Kid Rock opener billed as "classic rock in-your-face" for people who love America, football, and Jesus. The show sought to portray Bad Bunny's Spanish-language performance as offensive to conservative viewers. The production ultimately fell flat, coming across as dull and ineffectual rather than provocative, and missed its aim of providing an energetic alternative to the televised halftime spectacle.
Read at Jezebel
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