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The political debate surrounding the NFL’s selection of Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl LX halftime show isn’t going away, and U.S. President Donald Trump has chimed in—though he sounds perhaps angrier about the league’s dynamic kickoff rules.
During a Trump appearance on Newsmax, anchor Greg Kelly sought to tee up the president, commenting, “Maybe we should just kind of entertain blowing off the NFL, like a boycott.” Trump professed to not be familiar with Bad Bunny—despite the Puerto Rican superstar being one of the top-selling and most culturally recognizable artists in the world.
“I don’t know who he is. I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s, like, crazy,” Trump said. “They blamed it on some promoter they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Trump’s comments about Bad Bunny follow those from his Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said last week about the NFL, “Well, they suck, and we’ll win.”
The NFL has not responded to Trump’s comments, and has generally sought to stay out of a back-and-forth with the White House. The selection of Bad Bunny aligns fully with the league’s ongoing efforts to develop a younger and more international fan base.
Bad Bunny, for his part, addressed the flap on the Season 51 premiere of Saturday Night Live last weekend, commenting in Spanish about the pride Latinos are taking in his selection. He added, “If you don’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn,” referring to the Feb. 8 date for Super Bowl LX.
Ticked Off About Kickoffs
Trump was considerably more animated with Kelly regarding the NFL’s dynamic kickoffs introduced last year and modified somewhat for the 2025 season. The adjusted kickoff rules have dramatically reduced the colliding force of players during those plays, and in combination with improved helmet technology, produced the NFL’s lowest recorded number of concussions in 2024 and a similar reduction in lower extremity strains.
Trump called for a return to the original kickoff format.
“It is not any safer than the regular kickoff,” Trump said, in direct contradiction to the injury data. “I think that it just looks so terrible. I think it really demeans football, to be honest with you.”
The adjustment in touchbacks for this season, now placed at the 35-yard line, has spiked the number of returns so far this season, expanding on a trend from last season.
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