Bad Bunny Shakes U.S. Culture — But Why Is MAGA Reacting Negatively?

• Bad Bunny shakes American culture
• Super Bowl will be in Spanish
• MAGA reacts with anger

The Super Bowl remains one of America’s few shared national rituals. But this year, for the first time, its halftime show will be performed almost entirely in Spanish.

Bad Bunny, the world’s most-streamed artist, will take center stage. Yet his selection has triggered a sharp reaction from MAGA figures and conservative commentators.

According to Newsweek, during his appearance on Saturday Night Live, the Puerto Rican singer joked: “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”

That line alone was enough to ignite a national debate over identity, language, and cultural power.

Bad Bunny Super Bowl Presence: “A Provocation for Some, a Victory for Others”

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene called him “perverse” and demanded that English be declared the nation’s official language. On Fox News, commentator Tomi Lahren claimed that Bad Bunny “hates America and President Trump.”

Even Trump himself described the NFL’s choice as “ridiculous,” before admitting that he didn’t know who the artist was. Yet Bad Bunny is the most listened-to musician on the planet, with a fan base of millions and an industry built around his image.

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“By performing in Spanish, he challenges the idea that English is the only legitimate language of American life,” explained Amílcar Barreto, a professor at Northeastern University. “That’s why it feels provocative — it’s not just about music.”

In his work, Bad Bunny has denounced colonialism and police brutality, while openly supporting Puerto Rican independence. Every statement, every performance, feels like a political declaration.

Language as a Battlefield

The MAGA movement’s discomfort isn’t just about reggaeton or the artist himself — it reflects deeper fears about English losing its dominance in American culture.

“The Super Bowl in Spanish is a slap in the face to American identity,” wrote conservative activist Drew Pavlou. But the United States has never had an official language — and Spanish has been spoken here since before English.

For Barreto, Bad Bunny’s performance is “proof that the country sounds different now.” Today, nearly 20% of the U.S. population is Latino, and more than 43 million people speak Spanish at home.

The rise of Spanish has also fueled tension. Following looser immigration enforcement, many Latinos report feeling scrutinized and even alter their speech patterns in public.

The NFL’s Strategy and a New Audience

Bad Bunny avoided touring the U.S. mainland due to fear of ICE raids. Instead, he performed a 31-show residency in Puerto Rico that injected millions into the island’s economy.

His upcoming Super Bowl show represents both pride and strategy.

The NFL is aiming to attract a younger, more diverse, and global audience in a country where the average football viewer is now 50 years old.

“The Super Bowl is one of the few rituals that still unites the nation,” said a sports analyst. “Doing it in Spanish isn’t a provocation — it’s a reflection of the country as it truly exists.”

For some, it may feel like a blow to the nostalgia of a monocultural America. For others, it marks the beginning of an era in which Spanish is no longer seen as a threat, but as part of the cultural mainstream, Newsweek noted.

And perhaps, as Bad Bunny himself said on SNL, there’s still time to learn.