President Donald Trump on Monday evening blasted NFL organizers for selecting singer Bad Bunny to deliver the Super Bowl’s halftime performance, calling the decision “crazy.”
“I never heard of him. I don’t know who he is, I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s like, crazy. Then they blame it on some promoter that they hired to pick up entertainment,” he said during a phone interview with Newsmax.
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Bad Bunny, a popular Puerto Rican rapper, singer, and outspoken critic of the Trump administration, triggered some blowback in late September when he announced plans to perform at the Super Bowl. His show will be in Spanish only since he doesn’t sing in English. Some viewers were critical of the selection for the iconic American cultural pastime, viewed as the most widely anticipated cultural sporting event of the year.
Bad Bunny appeared to respond to some concerns during his opening monologue in Spanish on Saturday Night Live over the weekend. At the time, the celebrity suggested critics should learn Spanish.
“I’m really excited to be doing the Super Bowl. I know that people all around the world who love my music are also happy,” he added. “Especially all of the Latinos and Latinas in the world here in the United States who have worked to open doors….It’s more than a win for myself. It’s a win for all of us. Our footprints and our contribution in this country, no one will ever be able to take that away or erase it.”
Bad Bunny’s argument didn’t win Trump over. The president called the artist’s upcoming performance “absolutely ridiculous” on Monday evening before moving on to attack the NFL on another point: the football league’s new kickoff rule.
“I’d like them to change the kickoff rule, which looks ridiculous, where the ball is kicked and the ball is floating in the air, and everyone’s standing there watching it,” Trump said.
Under the old rule, once the ball was kicked off, all players on the field could move freely until the play was blown dead by a referee. Under the new safety regulations, the kicker is the only player on his team’s 35-yard line, with the other ten players now required to start at the other team’s 40-yard line. No players, other than the kicker and two returners, can move until the ball is caught or hits the ground inside the landing zone, which lies between the goal line and 20-yard line. If the ball is kicked out of bounds or short of the landing zone, the receiving team gets it at the 40-yard line. If the ball is kicked into the end zone for a touchback, the ball is placed at the 35-yard line. Previously, a touchback was placed at the 25-yard line.
The NFL added the new rule to incentivize teams to return kicks instead of settling for touchbacks on the vast majority of kickoffs.
“It’s not any safer than the regular kickoff. It just looks so terrible. I think it really demeans football, to be honest with you. It’s a great game, but it demeans football,” Trump lamented.
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It’s not the first time Trump has blasted the NFL over the new rule. Last month, he issued a Truth Social message reacting to the safety measure, questioning how the NFL could “make such a big and sweeping change so easily and quickly.”
“The ball is moving, and the players are not, the exact opposite of what football is all about,” Trump wrote. “‘Sissy’ football is bad for America, and bad for the NFL! Who comes up with these ridiculous ideas? It’s like wanting to ‘roll back’ the golf ball so it doesn’t go (nearly!) as far.”