Mike Florio ,
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The NFL’s selection of Bad Bunny to perform at the Super Bowl LX halftime show has quickly become a political football. While the man at the top of the administration has yet to chime in directly, another key government official has addressed the situation.
Via KTLA.com, Department of Homeland Security special adviser Corey Lewandowski took issue on Wednesday with the league’s gesture.
“It’s so shameful that they’ve decided to pick somebody who just seems to hate America so much to represent them at the halftime game,” Lewandowski said on The Benny Show .
Lewandowski’s conclusion that Bad Bunny “hates America” comes not from any anti-American statement he has made, but from his criticism of the current administration. Formally known as Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Bad Bunny is an American citizen from Puerto Rico. He has avoided U.S. tour dates due to concerns that ICE would be patrolling outside his concerts.
At his Super Bowl concert in Santa Clara, they will be.
“There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people in this country illegally. Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else,” Lewandowski said. “We will find you. We will apprehend you. We will put you in a detention facility, and we will deport you. So know that that is a very real situation under this administration, which is completely contrary to how it used to be.”
The NFL’s decision to feature Bad Bunny comes at a time when the NFL and ESPN hope the administration will approve a media merger that would result in the league owning 10 percent of ESPN. Coupled with Disney’s recent act of defiance via the reinstatement of Jimmy Kimmel, both the league and ESPN may have plenty of work to do in order to secure the seal of approval they seek.
Given their recent moves, it’s almost as if both sides are daring the administration to reject the proposed deal.
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