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The world is watching for Bad Bunny to make a political statement at the Super Bowl. Democrats are watching closely to figure out how to make their own.
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, the Puerto Rican recording artist known globally by his stage name, has created a pop culture phenomenon that will converge at a historic halftime show performance at the Super Bowl on Sunday when the New England Patriots play the Seattle Seahawks. Though Bad Bunny already made his Super Bowl debut alongside Shakira and Jennifer Lopez back in 2020, this time the spotlight will be on him and his exclusively in-Spanish catalog. And while his invitation triggered a harsh backlash on the right from the president on down, it’s also marking a major inflection point for Hispanic Americans of all backgrounds.
Sunday may prove to be Bad Bunny’s biggest chance to move the dial.
There’s an opportunity here, Democrats told POLITICO, to turn Bad Bunny’s cultural phenomenon into a political one, right as the party is mounting its strongest resistance to Trump’s sweeping deportation agenda — and with months to go before the midterms to make amends with Latino voters who have left their tent.
Former Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), who is of Puerto Rican descent and whose tenure in the House was marked by his outspokenness for the Latino communities he represented, emphasized that Democrats need to seize this moment to win back Latino support.
Democrats “do too little to engage the Latino community, and then they wonder why all these Latinos voted for Trump? Because you didn’t knock on their doors asking to vote for the Democrat. You failed to message us in so many ways,” he said. “They should embrace it.”
“It’s such a huge watershed moment,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he used this as a very unifying moment, but also on very resonant and salient grounds to send a message to people.”
There’s already signs of what’s on the Latino rapper’s mind.
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say, ‘ICE out,’” Bad Bunny said last Sunday as he accepted the Grammy for Best Música Urbana Album for his record-smashing “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” — just hours before taking home the night’s biggest prize, Album of the Year. “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens — we are humans, and we are Americans.”
Bad Bunny isn’t new to political endeavors. But he has long focused primarily on island politics — he’s a big activist for Puerto Rican independence — and has only occasionally weighed in on mainland issues.
In 2024, shortly after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe infamously disparaged Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” during the pre-show for Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden, Bad Bunny posted an endorsement of Kamala Harris to his tens of millions of Instagram followers. But he never appeared with Harris on the campaign trail.
His political trajectory has followed other Latino voters’ in recent months, however. Polls show many Hispanics have been particularly outraged at the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. And they are highly motivated to vote and could shift left, after consecutive election cycles where Trump made significant inroads with Latinos.
Americans overall in recent polling have shown an increasing souring on Trump’s handling of immigration. The two fatal shootings in Minneapolis and the stream of videos of ICE raids online are driving a fierce grassroots opposition that is pushing Democrats to hold the line on the Hill and not cave in negotiations on the DHS funding bill. But Trump’s crackdown has been felt most acutely in Latino communities. For many, the stories of families being detained have fueled a feeling of solidarity across the diaspora.
“That’s bringing people of all kinds together — especially the Latino community, the diaspora of Latino communities, that come from so many different places, so many different subcultures. It’s bringing us together in a new vision of latinidad,” said Chicago Alderman Michael Rodriguez, who represents the city’s historically Mexican Little Village community. “Our community is being assaulted right now.”
During Bad Bunny’s massive world tour last year, the artist did not schedule any shows on the U.S. mainland, in part due to concerns that ICE would target his concerts for immigration enforcement operations. “It’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about,” he told i-D magazine in a September interview.
After the rapper was announced as the halftime performer in September, Corey Lewandowski said there would be ICE enforcement operations at the Super Bowl — seemingly bringing to life some of the concerns that Martínez Ocasio voiced. Local leaders in the Bay Area have said this week they’ve privately been told no ICE officers will be at the show. DHS has remained more vague publicly about enforcement plans around the game. DHS did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Meanwhile, Republicans this weekend — many of whom in the MAGA universe have referred to Martínez Ocasio as “Woke Bunny” — are holding their own halftime performance to make a statement. Turning Point is counterprogramming Bad Bunny’s performance with a made-for-television “All American Halftime Show” featuring Kid Rock. “I think that that part of the country just felt offended,” said Andrew Kolvert, a spokesperson for Turning Point. “There needs to be a counter voice that says, ‘Hey, you know, we love this country. We love the rule of law, we love our troops, we love law enforcement, we love traditional America.’”
For Democrats, the question of how to better engage and win in Latino communities has dogged them as the party searches for a way out of the wilderness since their 2024 election losses. Bad Bunny has shown a natural ability to bring those communities together with his music, filling stadiums across the world for multi-night shows.
“It’s not that easy. We’re 23 countries, we fight each other every day,” said Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), who represents the largest Puerto Rican community in the Midwest — and whose city of Chicago was an early target of Trump’s increased immigration enforcement efforts. “For Bad Bunny to be able to bring Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Guatemalans, Dominicans together, and all feel like they’re being heard and that he can represent them, says a lot about who is.”
As for Martínez Ocasio, he’s keeping mum about what to expect from his performance on Sunday night. “It’s going to be a huge party,” he said at a preview event on Thursday. “I want to bring to the stage, of course, a lot of my culture. But I really don’t, I don’t want to give any spoilers. It’s going to be fun.”
The cultural solidarity that Bad Bunny’s music has fostered could translate into political unity, Rodriguez, the Chicago alderman, said. And some of his fellow Democrats are ready to build on the moment.
“There’s just no scenario where he is not going to have a message,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said. “There are moments in history that really move a community and solidify them within a political movement. And I think that’s happening right now.”
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Each year, the annual Super Bowl attracts a massive audience at home and abroad, ranking second only to the UEFA Champions League final as the most-watched annual sporting event worldwide. Yet it’s not all about the sport. The best Super Bowl halftime shows have played host to spellbinding performances from the best rock and pop superstars over the past three decades.
With Rihanna set to add their name to the list, with a much-anticipated halftime show, we take a look at the best Super Bowl halftime shows of all time.
The Rolling Stones (2006)
Satisfaction guaranteed with the legendary group, tearing through classics like “Start Me Up” and “Rough Justice.”
Lady Gaga (2017)
Also featuring groups of hundreds of lighted drones in the sky over Houston’s NRG Stadium, Lady Gaga’s set included tracks from her album Joanne and an impassioned cover of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.” The NFL claimed it was the “most watched musical event of all-time,” citing global viewing figures of 150 million.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (2008)
The incomparable Tom Petty was at full tilt during this performance, slashing and burning through a four-song set including a yearning “Free Fallin’” and a supercharged “Runnin’ Down A Dream.”
Katy Perry feat. Lenny Kravitz & Missy Elliott (2015)
When you’re the halftime performer at the Super Bowl, all eyes are on you. Unless, apparently, you bring dancing sharks on stage like Katy Perry did during “Teenage Dream” and “California Gurls” at the 2015 Super Bowl. Left shark’s moves were…unpredictable, which caused an internet uproar, though one that also highlighted Perry’s electric performance and her brilliant decision to share the stage with Missy Elliott.
Michael Jackson (1993)
A barnstormer that set the bar for anyone else looking to compete with the best Super Bowl halftime shows: the self-styled King Of Pop performed an awesome mini-set including “Billie Jean,” “Black Or White,” and “We Are The World.” After this performance, the NFL actively pursued pop’s top names for their halftime shows.
Diana Ross (1996)
Diana Ross’ Super Bowl halftime performance featured an electrifying medley of Ms. Ross’ greatest moments from The Supremes (“Baby Love,” “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”), her solo career (“Chain Reaction”), and more.
Boyz II Men, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Martha & The Vandellas, Queen Latifah (1998)
An all-star Motown extravaganza, this Super Bowl halftime show culminated with the artists performing a show-stopping finale of “Dancing In The Street” with the GSU Marching Band.
U2 (2002)
In tribute to those killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, U2 performed an emotional mini-set featuring “Beautiful Day,” hymn of peace “MLK,” and “Where The Streets Have No Name.”
Paul McCartney (2005)
Paul McCartney was on suitably fab form for his Super Bowl halftime performance with a hits-stuffed mini-set of Beatles classics and his own James Bond theme, “Live And Let Die.”
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (2009)
Tailor-made to slay stadiums, The Boss and his loyal cohorts rampaged through a quartet of all-American classics including “Glory Days” and “Born To Run.”
Madonna With MIA, Nicki Minaj, Cee Lo Green, LMFAO (Indianapolis, 2012)
This Madonna spectacular visualized by theatrical company Cirque Du Soleil and choreographer Jamie King set a new record for Super Bowl viewing figures, attracting 114 million viewers – reputedly more people than those watching the game itself.
The Weeknd (2021)
The Weeknd and musical director Oneohtrix Point Never brought the After Hours era to the biggest stage imaginable at the 2021 Super Bowl. Performing a medley of hits across his discography, Abel Tesfaye moved from the stage to a claustrophobic room filled with look-alikes ready to brawl, before emerging once again to serenade his global audience with “Blinding Lights.”
Beyoncé, Destiny’s Child (2013)
This highly acclaimed Super Bowl halftime performance generated more than 299,000 tweets per minute. At the time, it was reportedly the second most tweeted moment in the history of Twitter.
Coldplay feat. Bruno Mars and Beyoncé (2016)
Coldplay came with a number of tricks up their sleeves for the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. After running through seminal hits like, “Yellow,” “Viva la Vida,” “Paradise,” “Adventure of a Lifetime,” the group brought Bruno Mars and Beyoncé onstage to perform “Uptown Funk” and “Formation,” respectively, before everyone joined together for a rousing finale. Chris Martin was wise enough to know that inviting Beyoncé onstage is an automatic W. If only she could have helped the Carolina Panthers offense.
Prince (2007)
Torrential – rather than purple – rain threatened to make Prince’s Super Bowl XLI halftime performance a washout. No problem for one of the world’s greatest live performers, who shrugged off organizers’ concerns with one question: “Can you make it rain harder?”
Whipping up his own storm on a lit-up, symbol-shaped stage, Prince defied the elements to unleash “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Baby I’m A Star,” and “Purple Rain,” chucking Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” and Foo Fighters’ “Best Of You” in for good measure. Come the finale, a full marching band had taken to the field, Prince had cycled through four guitars – one of which suffered water damage thanks to the strength of the rain – and 93 million people had witnessed a performance that is still hailed as one of the all-time best Super Bowl halftime shows.
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San Francisco – Walking briskly as he made his way to another appearance on Radio Row, Hall of Famer Rod Woodson was not pleased by Bill Belichick not earning a gold jacket in his first year of eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “I just want to make sure that we’re looking at greatness – excellence,” Woodson told me. “When you look at your time in the National Football League, as a player, you have to have multiple All-Pros. You can’t say I was never the best at my position, but now I’m one of the best to ever play. That’s not a true statement.” Woodson’s comments follow a similar thought process to that of fellow Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, who believed the Hall had become watered down and not exclusive enough. However, Sanders was also upset about Belichick being left out and suggested that only Hall of Famers should be the ones voting on what players, coaches and contributors should be joining them. “I wouldn’t want the Grinch who stole Christmas voting on a beauty pageant,” Sanders said. Change is coming to the Hall of Fame voting process, but what should it look like? I spoke with Hall of Fame president Jim Porter at the Hall’s announcement for the five players who earned their gold jackets this week: Drew Brees, Roger Craig, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri. Porter confirmed what has been reported: The 50 voters on the Hall of Fame selection committee will meet in person and closer to the announcement of the 2027 Hall of Fame class in January of next year. And as they have done every year, Porter said the Hall will reexamine the voting process, along with the people doing the voting, to make sure everything is being executed so the most deserving candidates advance. The selection committee last met in person in 2019, a year before COVID. The committee was scheduled to meet in person in 2023, but inclement weather affected voters’ travel and forced the Hall to cancel, reverting to a virtual meeting. “We’ll do some tweaks, and we’ll take a look,” Porter said. “We’re going to do what’s best for the Hall of Fame. My job is to protect the integrity of the Hall, protect the integrity of the process.” As one of the 50 voters on the selection committee, I wrote about some of the perceived flaws in the process that potentially led to, in my opinion, deserving candidates not making it because of the limited spots available, like Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft, both of whom were on my ballot, along with Craig. Belichick and Kraft not getting in has led to an onslaught of people around the league clamoring for a change in the process. And I spoke to a few of those people at different events throughout the week. As expected, they provided differing perspectives. Ravens edge rusher Kyle Van Noy said he would like more diversity on the voter selection committee in terms of their involvement around the league. “More players should be involved for sure, especially to give their perspective,” Van Noy told me. “I don’t think it should be so heavily media-driven. I really think they need a process where there’s more players. “You definitely need to have media involved. You should have upper management involved. I really believe in being able to have three different levels – players, media and front office. It’s just like politics; there should be another party in there. It shouldn’t be one way where you have just media, because things could get skewed.” Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz said candidates potentially having to wait their turn to get in is part of the process. Along with Belichick and Kraft, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning also did not make the cut for the second time as a finalist. “I know the whole Bill Belichick, Kraft thing has been blowing up,” Munoz told me. “But one of the things we learn is you’re not a given first-ballot anything. It was brought to my attention that guys like Bill Walsh and all the top coaches were not first-time ballot guys. So, they’ll get in. “It’s a shame that it happened that way. I know if I was one of the voters it might be a little (different), but I had nothing to do with it.” Former NFL linebacker and head coach Ron Rivera would like to see the Hall go back to voting for separate categories for coaches, contributors and players, not lumping them together for the selection committee to vote on. “Those should all be separate,” Rivera told me. “You’re talking about completely different groups. If you’re going to talk about coaches, then let’s do coaches. People that contribute, whether it be broadcasters or owners, these are special people based on what they have accomplished, and we should treat them like that as we go through it. “For everything that Coach (Belichick) accomplished, and then not to get in on the first ballot, everyone is going to sit back and go, ‘Huh?” Bottom line for Woodson: The Hall of Fame is reserved for the best of the best. “It’s OK to be in the second tier,” Woodson told me. “It’s OK to be there. But I think we just need to have a better understanding of what greatness is, and excellence.” NFL to revisit tush push this offseason Troy Vincent, executive vice president of football operations for the NFL, said the league will once again take a closer look at the tush push play made popular by the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason. The soonest the NFL’s competition committee might address the issue would be at the NFL owners meetings in March at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Ariz. A proposal to ban the play garnered 22 votes last year, falling two votes shy of the required 75 percent majority for a rule change. NFL referees have struggled to accurately officiate the play, failing to see offsides in the close quarters of a scrum. “It will be discussed,” Vincent said during a press conference this week. “No. 1 we want to be accurate, recognizing when someone is offsides or moving early. But also, the difficulty of when you see forward progress and blow the whistle, you blow it too early. Now, you have back or tight ends back there running and progress is still moving forward. We’ve got some work to do. We will revisit that particular play and see how membership feels about it, and if they want to do anything about it.” Van Noy is not a fan of the tush push. “I think it’s a dumb play,” he told me. “But I’ve heard why they don’t want to, because if it gets taken out, then you’re taking out all the pushes. So, I don’t agree with that. I think they’re just going to have to find a way to make the language right, so it doesn’t take away from being able to push a guy into the end zone. “I don’t think it’s a play that you can referee properly, unless they get closer. So, if they are going to do that play, then they should bring the referees closer so they can see if there’s a false start or someone is lining up offside. But unfortunately, lawyers make up all the language, not actual football people.” Like Van Noy, Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Kobie Turner said the league needs to bring more clarity to how the play can be run. “If we don’t ban it, we just need to be able to officiate it better,” Turner told me. “Or to be able to have more clarity on what’s required.” An offensive tackle in the league for 13 years, Munoz believes the tush push is just football. “You’ve got 11 guys on offense and 11 guys on defense – stop it,” Munoz told me. “Back when I played the game was a little different; we had the wedge (play). But it’s not like the offense brings in two or three extra guys. It’s still 11-on-11. “There are some things I think have to stay. It’s tackle football. It’s a rough sport.”Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
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