02/11/2026
Donald Trump has become so ubiquitous in American life at this point — interjecting himself into the Olympics, the Grammys and whatever else might be scrolling down his feed — that to find a place where he is absent becomes instantly noteworthy. Trump stayed away from this year’s Super Bowl in Santa Clara, ostensibly because “it’s too far away.”
“I can report that one felt his physical absence in the stadium,” Will Leitch writes. “There is a certain toxic electricity when he’s in the building, like a horror movie villain who could pop up on the Jumbotron at any time.”
It seemed like the whole building felt a little relieved to have some time away from the man, like they could breathe a little easier. And maybe, for a few hours, the country could act a little more like itself.
This dynamic was most obvious in Bad Bunny’s halftime show. The number one-streamed musician in the world — who Trump and his acolytes spent months fruitlessly trying to convince us is both not American and not popular — put together a vibrant, jaw-dropping Rube Goldberg machine of a performance that was as moving and unifying as it was seemingly logistically impossible. The joyousness of the routine — there was a wedding in the middle of it! They kept dancing outside the stadium! — felt like a direct rebuke, but also a celebration of the simple fact of being alive: Of dancing rather than scowling.
This Super Bowl will obviously not be remembered for the game. It will be remembered, in a headlining sense, for Bad Bunny.
Read Leitch’s full report on how the whole Super Bowl felt packed with stuff the president would hate: https://nymag.visitlink.me/Ktm9GG
