A former Republican member of the House had a CNN panel laughing on Thursday morning as he described a freak-out by Donald Trump’s MAGA supporters over the selection of pop-star Bad Bunny to headline the next Super Bowl halftime show.
During a panel discussion over the reaction to the popular Puerto Rican artist, real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, being handed the gig, ex-Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Il) said he finds MAGA critics “exhausting."
According to CNN analyst Betsy Klein, politics aside, the NFL's choice of Bad Bunny is good business.
“I think this is a business decision for the NFL; I actually looked it up earlier. I was looking up top Spotify streams and number one is Taylor Swift. Number two is Bad Bunny. This is an effort by the NFL to become a global brand to bring new, younger, different demographics into the fold.”
The CNN host then shared a clip of Corey Lewandowski, DHS head Kristi Noem’s sidekick and her de facto chief of staff, criticizing the artist who has opposed the Donald Trump administration’s immigrant round-up.
“There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” he complained. “Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you. If there are illegal aliens, I don't care if it's a concert for Johnny Smith or Bad Bunny or anybody else, we're going to do enforcement everywhere.”
That led Kinziger to dryly retort, “Listen, you know, the thing that's very exhausting as a kind of Republican, not in great standing with the party right now, is I always remember we used to kind of make fun of the left for being snowflakes and offended all the time — everything is offending the GOP today.”
As the panel laughed, he suggested, “I mean, it's like there's this absolute ... okay, so you don't like the halftime performer at the Super Bowl? So, turn the channel! Like, literally your life is not ending because of the show and it's not affected. And I think that's what's very exhausting is this whole idea that everything is offensive.”
He then took a shot at Lewandowski, known for his temper, adding, “Even in the clip you played of Corey Lewandowsk, being the tough guy. Everything is like, ‘I'm the alpha male now,’ is covering for something, right?”
“All these people that try to act tough are covering up something. That's what's exhausting to me as a Republican. And I think, eventually, that's going to wear thin on a lot of people.”