Conservative activist and anti-DEI rabble rouser Christopher Rufo poured cold water on Donald Trump supporters who are insisting that aging rocker Kid Rock is winning the culture war based on his alternative Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday.
Kid Rock's show, sponsored by Turning Point USA as counter-programming to the NFL’s Bad Bunny halftime entertainment, was broadcast on YouTube to an estimated 6 million viewers — far less than Bad Bunny’s estimated 133 million viewers.
Taking to X, Rufo wrote MAGA boasts that Kid Rock, real name Robert Ritchie, wiped the floor with the NFL and the Bad Bunny performance is the stuff of fantasy.
Instead, he warned, Kid Rock has set back conservative efforts to make inroads into popular culture.
He wrote, “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.”
He admitted, “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,” he warned.
His opinion was supported by former Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) communications official Christina Pushsaw, who added, “I completely agree. And it speaks to a broader problem: Too many conservatives are obsessed with getting approval and validation from celebrities. They care too much about what entertainers think. When the reality is that an artist can be super popular, but people who listen to their music tune them out when it comes to politics.”
Longtime conservative pundit Erick Erickson applauded Rufo’s honesty and offered, ‘This is why I appreciate Chris. He works hard to not be in the bubble. The Left started losing when it got inside its Twitter-generated bubble. The Right is headed for the same fate, continuing to think Twitter is real life.”