Turning Point USA’s “All-American Halftime Show” flopped in its bid to overshadow Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, and lasted over 10 minutes longer than the Puerto Rican superstar’s dynamic presentation on Sunday.
The show faced problems even before it kicked off, with Turning Point announcing that it wouldn’t be streaming video on X due to licensing issues.
The “All-American Halftime Show” — which lasted half an hour and was seemingly filmed indoors in front of a crowd of dozens — started before Bad Bunny even sang a single line, and continued even as the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots returned to the field for the third quarter.
Country music stars Brantley Gilbert and Lee Brice, along with former “American Idol” star Gabby Barrett opened the show. After Brice’s performance of his song “Drinking Class,” he declared that Charlie Kirk, the slain conservative podcaster who co-founded Turning Point USA, “gave people microphones so they can say what’s on their mind.” Brice then belted out a number where he seemingly dissed trans children and stressed “it ain’t easy being country, in this country nowadays.”
Kid Rock, a pal of President Donald Trump, then took the stage and launched into his song “Bawitdaba” as pyrotechnics lit the stage while an American flag unfurled behind him.
“My name is Kid!” he shouted, moments before he began to jump around on stage in a pair of jorts.
After a bizarrely-placed classical music interlude, Kid Rock returned wearing a new outfit and carrying an acoustic guitar to perform a cover of Cody Johnson’s ”’Til You Can’t” in a tribute to Kirk.
As the song faded out, pictures of Kirk and his family adorned screens around the stage, and clips of the late right-wing activist played.
Kirk’s organizing machine announced plans for its patriotic counter-programming last October amid outrage from conservatives over Bad Bunny being selected as Super Bowl headliner.
At the time, House Speaker Mike Johnson said the Spanish-language singer was “a terrible decision” while indignant Trump called the league’s pick “absolutely ridiculous” in an interview with Newsmax.
“I don’t know who he is. I don’t know why they’re doing it — it’s, like, crazy,” Trump said of the hitmaker, who has been the world’s most-streamed artist for the past four years running.
During the tour for his Grammy-winning album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” Bad Bunny decided against playing concerts in the continental U.S. out of fear immigration forces would use the shows to target his fans.
“It’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about,” the singer said in a fall 2025 interview with i-D magazine.
In a statement made after Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl showcase was announced last September, Trump administration officials promised Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be present at the football game in Santa Clara, Calif.
“There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally. Not the Super Bowl, and nowhere else,” said Corey Lewandowski, chief adviser to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. “We will find you. We will apprehend you. We will put you in a detention facility, and we will deport you.”
DHS dropped the threat ahead of the big game, however, according to a memo from the Super Bowl host committee that was detailed by The Washington Post on Tuesday.