Former Illinois lawmaker and registered Republican Adam Kinzinger says he laments the days of being able to call Democrats and liberals “snowflakes.” Republicans, he complained, have stolen the label and made it their own.
The National Football League (NFL) recently announced Puerto Rican reggaetón superstar Bad Bunny will headline the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show. MAGA Republicans are furious at the designation due to Bunny’s outspoken criticism of President Donald Trump's immigration policy. He also deliberately excluded the mainland U.S. from his international tour because of raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
More recently, Department of Homeland Security Advisor Corey Lewandowski blasted Bunny for trying to interfere with Trump’s agenda.
“There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” said Lewandowski on a right-wing podcast. “Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you. If there are illegal aliens, I don't care if it's a concert for Johnny Smith or Bad Bunny or anybody else, we're going to do enforcement everywhere.”
“Listen, you know, the thing that's very exhausting as a kind of Republican — not in great standing with the party right now — is I always remember we used to kind of make fun of the left for being snowflakes and offended all the time,” said Kinzinger. “Everything is offending the GOP today.”
“I mean, it's like there's this absolute — okay, so you don't like the halftime performer at the Super Bowl. Okay. So, turn the channel,” Kinzinger added. “Like, literally your life is not ending because of [a halftime show] and it's not effective. And I think that's what's very exhausting is this whole idea that everything is offensive.”
Kinzinger went on to suggest that Lewandowski’s “tough guy” act was a cover for some un-diagnosed insecurity.
“And even in the clip you played of Corey Lewandowski … being the tough guy. Everything is like, I'm the alpha male now, is covering for something, right?” said Kinzinger, a former National guard officer as well as a former member of the U.S. House. “All these people that try to act tough are covering up something. That's what's exhausting to me as a as a Republican. And I think, eventually, that's going to wear thin on a lot of people.”