Donald Trump, who last week ripped pop star Rihanna ahead of her Super Bowl halftime show, got more shots in after her performance on Sunday.
Last week, before the Super Bowl, former President Donald Trump went on the offensive during the Super Bowl halftime show headline, Rihanna.
Quoting his former White House doctor and now Texas Congressman Ronny Jackson, who had stated on social media that Rihanna had “spray painted “F*** Donald Trump” on a car at the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo [and] made a career of spewing degenerate filth while badmouthing America every chance she gets,” Trump got in some licks of his own. Jackson appeared to be calling for a new standard in which performers who have been critical of Donald Trump are verboten from starring in the Super Bowl halftime show.
“Without her ‘Stylist’ she’d be NOTHING. Bad everything, and NO TALENT!,” Trump added of the singer. Rihanna, during his presidency, had been sharply critical of Trump’s immigration policies, and at one point asked that her music not be played at Trump’s rallies. Rihanna had indeed spray-painted that anti-Trump message at an art installation in Texas.
Following Rihanna’s halftime performance on Sunday, Donald Trump ripped her once again.
“EPIC FAIL: Rihanna gave, without question, the single worst Halftime Show in Super Bowl history — This after insulting far more than half of our Nation, which is already in serious DECLINE, with her foul and insulting language. Also, so much for her “Stylist!,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Donald Trump did not comment on any other aspect of the Super Bowl, including the game itself, in which the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in a matchup that was close throughout.
Donald Trump: What Was He Thinking?
Rihanna’s halftime performance was described by the New York Times as “a 13-minute extravaganza of crimson,” and the most talked-about element of the show was the singer revealing that she is pregnant with her second child.
After a great deal of social media speculation, Rihanna’s representatives confirmed shortly after the performance that the singer is, in fact, expecting less than a year after the birth of her first child last May.
Several right-wing influencers, including Donald Trump, Jr., ripped the halftime show as “Satanic,” which has become a go-to insult for performances at award shows and other special occasions.
Kari Lake, the defeated candidate for governor of Arizona last year, attended the game, which was played in her home state. Before the game, she was shown seated while singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which has been described by some as the “Black National Anthem.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) also objected to including that song, which actress and singer Sheryl Lee Ralph performed.
“America only has ONE NATIONAL ANTHEM,” Boebert said on Twitter before the game. “Why is the NFL trying to divide us by playing multiple!? Do football, not wokeness.”
“I bet the NFL is furious the two quarterbacks in the Super Bowl are open about their Christian faith,” Boebert said in a different tweet. “I personally love it!!”
It is true that both the Chiefs’Patrick Mahomes and the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts are open about being believing Christians. Still, there is absolutely zero indication that the NFL, or “the left,” or anyone else, is upset about that.
And when Damar Hamlin, the Buffalo Bill safety who suffered a cardiac event on the field in December, appeared in person at the game, it somehow did not mean the end of vaccine-related conspiracy theories that he is secretly dead and the Hamlin who has appeared in public is some type of body double. And yes, there were further conspiracy theories involving Satanism and the design of Hamlin’s jacket.
Expertise and Experience: Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
