Donald Trump is the president of the United States, but the population believes that Bad Bunny better embodies American values. According to a survey published by Yahoo and YouGov, a company specializing in market research, the artist best reflects the North American country, with 42% of positive responses, compared to the Republican president, who had 39%. The study was conducted days after the Puerto Rican’s performance at halftime during Super Bowl LX, which took place on Sunday, February 8.
Trump said on social media that the show had been one of the worst in history. “It is an affront to the greatness of the United States and does not represent our values of success, creativity, and excellence. No one understands a word this guy says, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children.” But the numbers tell a different story.
The partisan difference is striking. About 78% of those who identify as Democrats view Bad Bunny favorably, and only 7% reject him. On the other hand, among those who identify as Republicans, only 12% approve of the Puerto Rican, compared to 70% who disapprove. Among independent voters, 46% voted for the artist, while 27% voted for the president.
Bad Bunny’s performance at one of the most watched events in the world has also generated increased interest in learning Spanish and traveling to the Caribbean island. Duolingo, one of the most popular language learning apps, shared a graph on its social media showing a 35% increase in Spanish learners minutes after the artist’s performance ended.
After all this shit is over, the America I want to remember (as a non-American), is the America of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, of Albert Einstein, WEB Du Bois, of John Brown, of Tupac, of the creation and heights of new arts and sciences. For being the first truly fully modern nation on earth. Where the ideals of the new age first became law. For fighting for freedom and the wellbeing of every individual.
But when Trump was first elected, I remember feeling “damn he is the most American guy ever huh”. And he is. He’s a grifter and a scammer, a heir failson who fell upwards in life due to his evilness. And that’s America as well. It’s also Rockefeller, Carnagie, Mellon, Morgan all the robber barons, Joseph Smith, Roy Cohn, Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lanski, the Dulles brothers. Of eugenics and “enhanced interrogations”. Of forced sterilizations and experiments on unwilling subjects.
America was founded on genocide, conquest and slavery. And it rewarded the people that most embodied the ideals necessary for that up until this day.
The world can only be free when the empire falls, and America is returned to the natives and reparations are made to all descendants of enslaved people. When we all face the reality that no nation can exist founded on the principles of white supremacy and simply “reform”.
But after that, I’ll remember America for all the good that it was. Not for being the most evil nation on earth. I hope.