Donald Trump’s decision to use the Super Bowl as a platform for moral outrage was predictable. The target, as ever, was culture he does not understand. The irony, as ever, was breathtaking.
As Bad Bunny’s half-time performance drew widespread praise for its energy, choreography and global reach, Trump took to Truth Social mid-game to declare it “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!” He described the show as “an affront to the Greatness of America,” complained that “nobody understands a word this guy is saying,” and finally reached for the rhetorical club he now habitually wields: children.
“The dancing is disgusting,” Trump wrote, “especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A. and all over the World.”
This sudden concern for child welfare would be easier to take seriously if it were not coming from a man whose public record on sexual misconduct, abuse, and exploitation of minors is among the most extensive ever assembled around a major political figure.
The Epstein problem Trump never answers
Trump’s name appears repeatedly in documents connected to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who trafficked and abused underage girls for decades. Trump has long admitted to knowing Epstein socially. In 2002, he told New York magazine:
“I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
That quote has aged catastrophically.
Flight logs show Trump flew on Epstein’s plane at least once. Multiple witnesses have described Trump and Epstein socialising together at Mar-a-Lago, including events where underage girls were present. One Epstein survivor, Virginia Giuffre, alleged in sworn statements that Trump was among the men Epstein introduced her to. Trump has denied wrongdoing but has never provided a detailed account of his relationship with Epstein beyond insisting he “barely knew” him, a claim contradicted by years of photographs, party footage and his own words.
When Epstein was arrested in 2019, Trump’s response was not sympathy for victims but concern for himself. Asked about Epstein’s death, Trump publicly amplified conspiracy theories, while privately his administration failed to release the full Epstein client list his supporters now claim to demand.
A lifetime of bragging about sexual entitlement
Trump’s Super Bowl sermon on “disgusting dancing” also sits uneasily alongside his own recorded statements about sexual behaviour. In the now-infamous 2005 Access Hollywood tape, Trump boasted:
“I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy.”
This was not locker-room exaggeration; it was a statement of entitlement. At no point did Trump express concern for consent, age, or boundaries. Instead, he framed fame as a licence.
Years later, a New York jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation in the E. Jean Carroll case, concluding that he assaulted her in a department store dressing room and then lied about it for decades. The judge later clarified that what Trump did met the common definition of rape.
This is the man now positioning himself as a protector of children from choreography.
Pageants, dressing rooms, and “inspection”
Trump’s history around young girls is not limited to Epstein. As owner of the Miss Universe organisation, including Miss Teen USA, Trump repeatedly boasted about entering contestants’ dressing rooms unannounced.
In a 2005 interview with Howard Stern, Trump said:
“I’ll go backstage before a show, and everyone’s getting dressed and ready and everything else. And you know, no men are anywhere. And I’m allowed to go in because I’m the owner of the pageant.”
Several former Miss Teen USA contestants later confirmed that Trump did exactly this — walking in on teenage girls while they were undressed. At least one described it as “creepy” and “disturbing”. Trump never denied the behaviour; he defended it as a perk of ownership.
Again, this context matters when Trump declares televised dancing “disgusting for young children.”
“Protect the children” as a political weapon
Trump’s Super Bowl outburst fits a broader pattern. When Trump talks about “protecting children,” it is almost always selective, performative, and aimed at scapegoats.
He invokes children to attack immigrants, falsely linking them to sexual violence despite overwhelming evidence that migrants commit less crime than native-born citizens. He invokes children to attack LGBTQ+ people, promoting baseless grooming panics while remaining silent on abuse within churches, families, and elite institutions. He invokes children to attack artists, musicians and educators, but not to address gun violence, child poverty, healthcare access, or school safety.
Most tellingly, he invokes children while never reckoning honestly with his own past.
Culture war over football, morality theatre over reality
Trump even managed to fold the NFL’s kickoff rule into his rant, demanding it be “immediately replaced,” as though safety-driven rule changes and a Latin artist’s choreography were symptoms of the same moral collapse.
Meanwhile, the actual Super Bowl, the event Trump was supposedly watching, delivered a clear sporting narrative. The Seattle Seahawks’ defence dismantled the New England Patriots, securing a decisive 29–13 victory and their second championship. It was disciplined, tactical, and impressive.
Trump, however, chose not to engage with reality but to rage at the spectacle.
The real obscenity
There is nothing new about a reactionary politician complaining about music he doesn’t understand. What is obscene is the hypocrisy.
A man accused in Epstein-related documents, found liable for sexual abuse, recorded boasting about assault, and documented entering dressing rooms of teenage girls now claims moral authority over what children should see on television.
Trump calls dancing “disgusting.” Many Americans see something far more disturbing: a powerful man with a deeply compromised record on sexual ethics using child protection rhetoric as a shield and hoping the public forgets everything he has spent decades telling them about himself.
The problem is not that Trump dislikes Bad Bunny.
The problem is that he expects to be believed.
