Karoline Leavitt says Trump has no plans to watch Bad Bunny at Super Bowl LX halftime

WASHINGTON, DC: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed which Super Bowl halftime show President Donald Trump plans to watch this Sunday, February 8.

While Grammy Award winner Bad Bunny is headlining the official halftime performance in Santa Clara, California, Leavitt said Trump would likely skip it in favor of an alternative show being organized by Turning Point USA (TPUSA).

Trump prefers Kid Rock performance over Bad Bunny

Karoline Leavitt suggested that President Trump would tune in to watch the TPUSA show.

“I think the president would much prefer a Kid Rock performance over Bad Bunny. I must say that,” Leavitt told reporters at Thursday’s White House press briefing.

Leavitt also confirmed that Trump is not picking a team to win Sunday’s game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.

“The president has wisely chosen not to make a prediction on Sunday night's game, but as a native girl from New Hampshire, go Patriots,” she said.

Bad Bunny's upcoming Super Bowl halftime performance courts controversy

When the NFL announced Bad Bunny as the halftime show headliner for the Super Bowl, some Trump administration officials and conservative groups criticized the choice, owing to the artist's criticism of the current administration. 

TPUSA said it would organize its own halftime show, featuring Kid Rock, a Trump supporter, along with country rock artists Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed questions Monday, February 2 about whether Bad Bunny might make a political statement during the Super Bowl halftime show. 

“Listen, Bad Bunny is, and I think that was demonstrated last night, one of the great artists in the world, and that’s one of the reasons we chose him,” Goodell said, referring to the Puerto Rican artist's Grammy win.

Goodell added, “But the other reason is he understood the platform he was on, and this platform is used to unite people and to be able to bring people together with their creativity, with their talents and to be able to use this moment to do that. And I think artists in the past have done that. I think Bad Bunny understands that, and I think he’ll have a great performance.”

Trump says Bad Bunny, Green Day 'terrible' choices for Super Bowl

Weeks ago, Trump told the New York Post that he wouldn’t attend Super Bowl XL because he didn’t like the choice of performers.

He criticized Bad Bunny and Green Day, saying, “I’m anti-them. I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible.”

Both the artist and the band have publicly taken political stances that run counter to the Trump administration.

“It’s just too far away. I would. I’ve [gotten] great hands [at] the Super Bowl. They like me,” Trump added. "I would go if, you know, it was a little bit shorter.”

Earlier this week, Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, spoke out against the Trump administration’s immigration policies during his Grammy acceptance speech.

“Before I say thanks to God, I'm going to say: 'ICE out,'” he said. “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans.” Bad Bunny, a US citizen from Puerto Rico, often speaks about concerns that Hispanic communities are unfairly targeted by immigration enforcement.