When the NFL announced that Bad Bunny would headline the Super Bowl LX halftime show on February 8, 2026, it should have been a celebratory moment: a recognition of one of the most globally successful and culturally significant artists of the modern era. Instead, the reaction from conservative corners of America has been nothing short of absurd. From politicians to pundits to former football players, the outrage over a Puerto Rican superstar performing at America’s biggest sporting event reveals more about their own insecurities and biases than it does about Bad Bunny or his music.

The outrage machine kicked into overdrive almost immediately. Just this Tuesday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson called the NFL’s decision “terrible” and suggested 82-year-old Lee Greenwood should perform instead, as though nostalgia were the only valid form of patriotism. Recently, Fox Nation host Tomi Lahren embarrassed herself by claiming Bad Bunny “is not an American artist,” only to be reminded (on her own show) that Puerto Rico is part of the United States. Even Donald Trump jumped into the fray, claiming he’d “never heard of him,” a statement that says more about Trump’s cultural ignorance than about Bad Bunny’s reach. Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson also chimed in on the brouhaha, telling Bunny to “keep his ass away” from the Super Bowl if he doesn’t “like America.” Nonetheless it’s a pattern we’ve seen before: manufactured outrage cloaked in nationalism and cultural insecurity.

But perhaps the most ridiculous argument came from noted YouTube interviewer DJ Vlad, who recently complained on X that Bad Bunny’s songs are in Spanish and that “only 14% of Americans speak Spanish.” Yet, that narrow view ignores the fact that music transcends language. And data shows that Latin music’s influence in the U.S. is exploding. Indeed, recent studies show that over 43 million Americans speak Spanish at home, and millions more are bilingual or enjoy international music genres like Latin, Afrobeats, and K-Pop. Bad Bunny himself is the most-streamed artist in the world and headlined Coachella, hardly the résumé of someone “too foreign” for a global stage like the Super Bowl.

At its core, this backlash isn’t really about music, it’s about fear. Fear of a multicultural America that no longer revolves around one language, one genre, or one identity. Bad Bunny’s success represents the very globalization and diversity conservatives often rail against. But that ship has long sailed. The NFL is simply reflecting what its audience already looks like: diverse, young, and culturally open. (To his credit, Bad Bunny responded to MAGA critics upset that he'll be the 2026 Super Bowl halftime performer during his Saturday Night Live monologue on Saturday by speaking in Spanish and then telling them they have four months to learn what he just said.)

That said, when Bad Bunny steps onto that stage in February, millions will be watching. Bot not because of his politics, but because of his artistry. And just like every other year, the halftime show will come and the world will keep spinning. The critics will then find something else to be angry about, while Bad Bunny will keep doing what he’s always done: making history, breaking records, and proving that music, like America itself, belongs to everyone.