Noem said ICE is planning to be at Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show in February.Ramon ”Tonito” Zayas/El Nuevo Dia de Puerto Rico/Zuma
In the latest reminder that nowhere is safe, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning to “be all over” the Super Bowl, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“They suck and we’ll win and God will bless us,” said a government official to a podcaster.
Noem made the announcement on podcaster Benny Johnson’s show on Friday. Right-wingers, including Johnson, have been freaking out over Bad Bunny’s recently announced performance during the halftime show at the February game in Santa Clara, California. The Puerto Rican rapper, who has been critical of Trump, has said he avoided touring in the mainland US because he was concerned about ICE enforcement targeting his fans.
In response to Johnson’s questions, Noem told the host of the Super Bowl and its halftime show, “We’ll be all over that place.”
“I think people should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless they’re law-abiding Americans who love this country,” she added.
When Johnson asked if Noem had a message to the NFL—alleging that by picking Bad Bunny it “seemed like they were trying to send a message to the Trump administration”—she replied: “They suck and we’ll win and God will bless us.”
Just two days earlier, Corey Lewandowski, one of Noem’s top aides, made similar comments to Johnson, calling Bad Bunny a “cross-dressing, America-hating, ICE-hating, Puerto Rican dude” and complained that “he doesn’t sing in English.” Lewandowski told Johnson, “It’s so shameful that [the NFL] decided to pick somebody who just seems to hate America so much to represent them at the halftime game.”
Bad Bunny hosted Saturday Night Live’s season premiere last night. But he did not address the plans for ICE enforcement at the Super Bowl. The closest he came was introducing a short montage of Fox anchors edited to say they love him and want him to be the next president (instead of the actual criticism the hosts spewed).
Later in the monologue, he made some comments in Spanish, which reportedly translated to thanking “all of the Latinos and Latinas in the world here in the United States who have worked to open doors.” He added: “Our footprints and our contribution in this country, no one will ever be able to take that away or erase it.” Then, he added in English: “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”
Neither Bad Bunny nor the NFL have appeared to respond to the Trump administration’s threats.
