Last year, Donald Trump made history when he became the first sitting president ever to attend a Super Bowl. This year, however, he will not be in attendance – and he made it pretty clear that he’s not sad to be missing the pregame or halftime performers.
During a recent interview with the New York Post, Trump confirmed that he will not be attending next month’s Super Bowl LX in San Francisco. He also made a point to criticize Bad Bunny and Green Day, who will be performing at the game.
Bad Bunny, a Latin rap superstar who is the most-streamed male artist on the planet, is set to perform at the halftime show, while legendary pop punk band Green Day is set to perform at the game’s opening ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 8.
Both Bad Bunny and Green Day have been openly critical of Trump, and Trump is not happy that they will be performing at the game, calling it a “terrible choice.”
“I’m anti-them. I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible,” Trump told the New York Post.
Trump is not the only one who has spoken out against the halftime show. There has been plenty of backlash to Bad Bunny’s selection, with Turning Point USA even announcing plans for its own Super Bowl halftime show to counterprogram the real one. Bad Bunny himself, however, has laughed off the pushback, and rapper Jay-Z, who has been co-producing the halftime show since 2019, defended the decision.
Despite his obvious opposition to the performers, Trump claims that Bad Bunny and Green Day are not the reason why he is not attending the Super Bowl. He said the game, which will be played in San Francisco, is simply too far away for him to travel.
“It’s just too far away. I would. I’ve [gotten] great hands [at] the Super Bowl. They like me,” Trump said. “I would go if, you know, it was a little bit shorter.”
Obviously, Trump’s decision not to attend the game should make things a bit easier for organizers, who will not have to worry about the extra security measures or potential delays for the biggest annual television event of the year.