The President of the United States, Donald Trump, publicly criticized the selection of Bad Bunny and the band Green Day as musical acts for Super Bowl LX, slated for February 8, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
In an interview with the New York Post, Trump said he was opposed to the two artists and called the musical lineup inappropriate. “I am against them. I think it’s a terrible choice. All that does is sow hatred. Terrible,” the president declared.
Despite the criticism, Trump said he does not intend to attend the game and stated that the decision is not related to the acts, but to the distance between Washington and California.
The presence of Bad Bunny at the event had already been generating political reactions even before the president’s statements. After being announced as the halftime show act, the singer appeared on Saturday Night Live, where he delivered most of his monologue in English, but used Spanish to comment on his excitement for the Super Bowl. He then stated that anyone who did not understand would have until game day to learn the language.
The remark provoked a reaction from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said she had introduced a proposal to make English the sole official language of the United States, directly tying the initiative to the Puerto Rican artist’s selection.
Meanwhile, Green Day, tapped for the opening ceremony, has a history of clashes with Republican governments. The band gained political prominence with the album American Idiot (2004), whose title track was written as a critique of then-President George W. Bush, amid the Iraq War.
More recently, in August, the vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong stated that the music remains current under Trump and again attacked the president, calling him “a complete idiot”.
