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Conservative activist Christopher Rufo torched the “conservative outrage cycle” over Super Bowl halftime shows as a self-defeating folly, specifically mocking those who were attempting to argue Kid Rock had won some sort of “stunning culture war victory” over Bad Bunny.
The official Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show headlined by the superstar Puerto Rican rapper and singer (real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) was reportedly the most-watched of all time, based on early viewership estimates. It featured guest appearances by Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, tributes to real Latino businesses from around the country, a plethora of cultural references, a parade of flags from every country in North and South America, and even an actual wedding.
Bad Bunny’s halftime show garnered a lot of praise for its creativity, messaging, and cultural representation, but there were, of course, critics, perhaps most notably President Donald Trump, who dissed it as “absolutely terrible” for being mainly in Spanish and for the “disgusting” dance moves.
Greg Gutfeld joined his colleagues on Fox News’ The Five in shredding the halftime show.
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) denounced the show as “pure smut,” baselessly claimed it had depicted “gay pornography,” and called for a congressional inquiry.
Kid Rock, who headlined the competing halftime show organized by Turning Point USA, got the expected praise from the denizens of the MAGA world, but his time in the spotlight also drew attention to some of his controversial lyrics and past comments about lusting after underage girls.
Just in raw numbers, the TPUSA halftime show never stood a chance mathematically; the Super Bowl is a massive event and Bad Bunny is one of the biggest musical artists on the planet right now (nominated for 16 Grammys, winning six; 113 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, including 12 in the top ten; and has been the most-streamed artist on Spotify globally a record four times: 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2025, among other accolades).
Still, the tribal nature of partisan politics has people rushing to declare their support for those they perceive as on their side, so Kid Rock had a number of conservatives singing his praises Monday and seeking to declare a victory in the halftime show battle.
Not Rufo, however.
The problem with the annual conservative outrage cycle over the Super Bowl halftime show is that it has no impact on the NFL and makes conservatives look weak and left behind. Kid Rock does not change this calculus—he reinforces it. The ghettoization of conservative culture.
— Christopher F. Rufo
(@christopherrufo) February 10, 2026
“The problem with the annual conservative outrage cycle over the Super Bowl halftime show is that it has no impact on the NFL and makes conservatives look weak and left behind,” he wrote in a tweet Monday evening.
“Kid Rock does not change this calculus—he reinforces it,” Rufo added, arguing that this risked “[t]he ghettoization of conservative culture.”
“I’m a right-winger, I love country music, but c’mon, Kid Rock did not ‘mog’ Bad Bunny,” he added, referring to an online slang term meaning to dominate by looking or performing better than the competition, commonly in the “manosphere” to refer to taller, stronger, and more muscular men being superior.
I'm a right-winger, I love country music, but c'mon, Kid Rock did not "mog" Bad Bunny. This wasn't a "stunning culture war victory." Advertisers are not going to "flock away from the Super Bowl."
Conservatives have started lying to themselves and to their audiences—not good.
— Christopher F. Rufo
“This wasn’t a ‘stunning culture war victory,’” Rufo declared. “Advertisers are not going to ‘flock away from the Super Bowl.’”
“Conservatives have started lying to themselves and to their audiences—not good,” he wrote.
Rufo’s tweets drew tons of response, and he emphasized his arguments in replies to several people, writing that when “you’re in this position where you’re conceding the frame and competing for celebrities,” it was “a competition the Right will always lose,” and expressing that he was “pessimistic” about conservatives’ ability to succeed at “culture production, which has both a supply problem (creatives) and a demand problem (audience).”
“Pretending that Kid Rock is good culture is not conducive to the goal,” he added.
In another tweet, Rufo bluntly shot down a commenter who wrote that she “think[s] Kid Rock telling people about Jesus will have a remarkable reverberating effect through the years.”
No, it won't
— Christopher F. Rufo
“No, it won’t,” he wrote.
The post Christopher Rufo Eviscerates ‘Conservative Outrage Cycle’ Over Bad Bunny Halftime Show, Mocks Those Claiming Kid Rock Won first appeared on Mediaite.
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