Bad Bunny is currently the 12th most-streamed musician in the world according to Spotify, but that’s apparently not a broad enough audience for Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
Faced with a question about Bad Bunny’s impending Super Bowl halftime performance while roaming the halls of the Capitol on Tuesday, Speaker Johnson suggested another musician he felt would’ve represented a broader swath of the American viewing public: Lee Greenwood.
“Any reaction to Bad Bunny being chosen as the Super Bowl halftime performance?” a reporter asked Johnson.
“I didn’t even know who Bad Bunny was, but it sounds like a terrible decision in my view,” the Speaker replied.
“How come?” the reporter followed up.
“Well, it sounds like he’s not someone who appeals to a broader audience. And I think, you know, there’s so many eyes on the Super Bowl. A lot of young, impressionable children. And I think, you know, in my view, you would have Lee Greenwood or role models doing that. Not somebody like this,” Johnson said.
Bad Bunny touts nearly 80 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone. No matter how you slice it, his audience is pretty broad. Lee Greenwood? Well, he clocks in at 447,000, a few orders of magnitude below Bad Bunny’s stardom. But who’s counting?
If Speaker Johnson wants to find someone that appeals to the youth of America, 82-year-old Lee Greenwood might not be the top option either.
Luckily, politicians aren’t the ones picking who performs at the Super Bowl. They’re too busy carrying out important work on behalf of the American people, like passing budgets to keep the government operable. That’s going well, right?
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.