“The Only Thing More Powerful Than Hate is Love” - Bad Bunny, Trump, and Two Visions of America
Image Credit: Lorie Shaull via Wikimedia
America panics when it recognises itself. 28% of US citizens today are either immigrants or the children of immigrants. The country’s population is ageing; its labour force depends on a continued migration. What, then, made the NFL halftime show of Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny - Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, a born and raised U.S. citizen - so controversial? The problem isn’t immigration. It’s deep-rooted racism.
128.2 million people watched Bad Bunny’s halftime show – an audience exceeding the population of Japan. Ocasio, the 31-year-old rapper and reggaetonero, performed a vibrant 13-minute-long show, with Latin-American artists like Ricky Martin, Karol G, and Cardi B joining him on stage. In the final moments, Ocasio proudly holds up a football to the camera. On it, the bold message “TOGETHER WE ARE AMERICA”. A celebration of Pan-Americanism and Latin heritage, on one of the biggest stages in the world.
Ocasio has never pretended to be apolitical. In his acceptance speech at the Grammys, he exclaimed: “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ‘ICE out’. We’re not savages, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans.”
His 2025 album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, threads together the gentrification and exploitation of his homeland, U.S. imperialism, and the politics of belonging. In LA MuDANZA, Ocasio proudly reclaims his heritage and pushes back against displacement, singing:
De aquí nadie me saca, de aquí yo no me muevo
Dile que esta es mi casa, donde nació mi abuelo
No one is taking me from here, I’m not moving from here
Tell them this is my house, where my grandfather was born
Ocasio continues his exploration of identity in LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii, warning against cultural amnesia:
No sueltes la bandera
Ni olvides el lelolai
Don’t let go of the flag
Nor forgot the lelolai
These lyrics are not inspired by some abstract history - from 1948 until 1957, under the US-backed “Gag Law”, the display of the Puerto Rican flag, the singing of patriotic songs, or discussions of independence were prohibited on the island – a recent cultural memory for the grandparents of Ocasio’s generation.
The reaction of the Trump administration to the halftime show was swift, with the President labelling it “absolutely terrible” on Truth Social, a “slap in the face” to the country. But what was so anti-American about this performance? We saw two people get married live on stage, surrounded by music and joy. We saw communities joined by dance. We saw love, belonging, and celebration.
“God bless America”, Ocasio proclaims at the end, “whether it’s Chile, Argentina…”, as he names more than 20 American nations, their flags displayed behind him.
What Ocasio’s show challenged clearly wasn’t America itself; it was a narrow definition of it. Trump, winning his second term on empty promises of a ‘safer’, immigrant-free nation, and threats of mass deportations, sees immigration as a threat. For Ocasio and for Latinos everywhere, immigration is cultural inheritance. The MAGA movement pushes a version of patriotism, an “America First” mindset, defined by exclusion.
Art can’t be decontextualised from the context in which it’s produced. The halftime show is so controversial, so uncomfortable for the right-wing US viewer to watch, because it redefines what it means to be “American”. Where children are being dragged away from their parents, immigrants held illegally and starved, and civilians murdered on the street, Bad Bunny’s performance carries weight beyond entertainment. In a time where oppression is policy, the stage becomes resistance.