Bad Bunny Humiliates Trump & Jake Paul
PDS Published 02/09/2026
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Kash Patel is a shameless, bootlicking liar, and he absolutely knows it.
That’s the big takeaway from this New York Times bombshell report about what happened just hours after Johnathan Ross shot Renee Good in the face. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 01:00 - 01:02] Caption: “Fucking bitch.”
Because reportedly a senior prosecutor by the name of Joseph Thompson sought a warrant to search her vehicle for evidence in what he expected would be a standard civil rights investigation into the agent’s use of force. [Image and Quote, find “sought a warrant”]
With him emailing colleagues that state authorities who specialize in police shootings would team up with the FBI on the probe. [Quote same link, find “team up”]
But several sources say later that week, as FBI agents equipped with a signed warrant prepared to document blood spatter and bullet holes in the car, they received orders to stop. [Quote same link, find “blood spatter”]
And who did those orders come from, you ask? Well reportedly it was senior officials, including the FBI Director himself: Kash Patel. [Quote same link, find “worried”]
With sources saying several of them worried that a civil rights investigation, by using a warrant obtained on that basis, would contradict Trump’s claim that Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over Johnathan Ross. [Same quote]
Or in other words, that the facts would expose the regime’s lies.
So instead, over the next few days top DoJ officials reportedly presented “alternative” approaches.
Such as seeking a warrant predicated on a criminal investigation not into whether Ross’s use of force was justified, but into whether he had been assaulted by Good. [Quote same link, find “assaulted”]
Or another idea: they could just ditch the probe into the shooting altogether and instead investigate Good’s partner, who was there the day she got shot. [Same quote]
Now according to The Times, Thompson and several other prosecutors balked at these ideas, just like any sane human would, viewing them as legally dubious and incendiary. [Quote same link, find “balked”]
Hell, even lawyers who thought the shooting might have been lawful wanted an investigation into the use of force..
So Thompson and five others quit, at which point AG Pam Bondi told Fox News they were members of the “deep state” who “suddenly decided they didn’t want to support the men and women at ICE.” [Quote same link]
And then, she took the extra step of formally firing them, even though they had already resigned, which deprived them of months of paid leave they had accumulated. [Quote, find “paid leave”]
But after that, the dam broke, with more and more lawyers ditching the office, and now even the chief counsel for ICE in Minnesota has left. [Headline]
Right, tensions in the office are so high that staff say the U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Daniel Rosen, a commercial litigator with no prior experience in criminal law, has made unsettling comments about how he wouldn’t ask anyone to do anything illegal — an assurance that would normally go without saying. [Quote, find “normally”]
But other Democratic states are watching what’s happening in Minnesota and going, yeah, we don’t want none of that shit.
So you’re seeing them batten down the hatches, with Zohran Mamdani leading the charge, now reasserting New York’s status as a sanctuary city. [Lead B roll into clip]
So that covers Minnesota and New York; now we’ve gotta jump on over to Texas, where, in the words of Chris Murphy, Trump’s “baby prison” is still a house of horrors.
With more than 750 families, nearly half including children, as well as some 370 single adult women, currently holed up inside the infamous Dilley detention facility. [B roll, 00:35]
And now, we can hear from several of those children themselves, because Propublica obtained their letters and drawings, and they’re just heartbreaking.
With one 12-year-old boy writing: “They told me I could only be here 21 days but I have already spent more than 60 days waking up eating the same repetitive meals, going outside and that the majority of guards never pay attention to people, eating dinner always the same as the day before, seeing people cry every day for the same reasons, trying to sleep in that horrible uncomfortable bed, going to the doctor and that the only thing they tell you is to drink more water and the worst thing is that it seems like the water is what makes people sick here, going to wait for the bad answers from the judges, hearing the bad news from people who no longer have hope, having to share a room with minimum 3 families, and all that so they send us back to our countries.” [Quote]
Then you have a nine-year-old girl writing: “I always traveled with my tourist visa but ice used me to catch my mom and now I am in a jail and I am sad and I have fainted 2 times here inside. When I arrived every night I cried and now I don’t sleep well, I felt that being here was my fault and I only wanted to be on vacation like a normal family.” [Quote same link]
And this 14-year-old girl named Ariana read her own letter aloud in a recording.
[Audio (Find “Ariana”), 00:29 - 00:36, 00:12 - 00:25, 01:10 - 01:15, 02:10 - 02:17]
But y’all, do you know what the craziest thing about all this is?
While the Trump administration’s deporting these little kids to purge the country of foreigners, its allegedly covering up this mysterious phone call involving Donald Trump and foreign intelligence.
Right, you may remember that last week, The Wall Street Journal revealed that a whistleblower had accused intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard of burying a highly classified report that she was legally required to disclose to Congress. [Headline]
That was back in May, and now the whistleblower’s attorney told the Guardian what the report was about.
Saying that last spring, the NSA flagged an unusual phone call, and at first the attorney told the outlet it was between someone associated with foreign intelligence and someone close to Trump. [Quote, find “misspoke”]
With the attorney reportedly confirming that account multiple times, but then, after the article was published, he went hold on, I misspoke. [Same quote]
Saying that actually, the call was between two members of foreign intelligence and merely involved someone close to Trump’s White House. [Quote same link, find “clarified”]
With another source adding that the person close to Trump is not understood to be an administration official or a special government employee. [Quote same link, find “special”]
But whatever the case, that’s all we know right now, so it’s still very mysterious.
Either way, the attorney says the call was brought to Gabbard’s attention, and rather than allowing officials to distribute the information further, she took a paper copy of it directly to Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles. [Quote same link, find “Suzie Wiles”]
Then, the next day, Gabbard allegedly told the NSA not to publish the report. [Quote same link, find “transmit”]
Instead, she instructed NSA officials to transmit the highly classified details directly to her office. [Same quote]
So for the past eight months, the report has been kept secret, even from congressional intelligence committees, which are legally required to be notified of whistleblower complaints.
But after this whole story broke, those committee’s lawmakers got a hold of a heavily redacted version of it.
And so far, they’ve split apart along party lines on whether the whistleblower complaint is credible and whether Gabbard’s conduct broke the law.
With Tom Cotton in the Senate and Rick Crawford in the House coming to her defense, and Democrats calling for more transparency. [Post]
But with all of the lies and secrecy from this White House about everything — Renee Good, Tulsi Gabbard, Jeffrey Epstein (we’ll get to that) — Trump wants you to believe the real “slap in the face to our country” was last night’s football game.
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Right, that’s what he had to say about Bad Bunny doing the halftime show at the Super Bowl.
And that’s just one way we’re seeing sports and politics collide right now.
But starting with Bad Bunny – we all know that choice sparked backlash among conservatives.
Even though he wasn't only the world’s most played artist on Spotify in 2025 but one of the most popular artists just in the United States.
And so the criticism stemmed at least in part from the fact he’s from Puerto Rico and sings almost exclusively in Spanish – with some on the right blasting the pick as anti-American.
Although, notably, of course, Puerto Rico is a US territory;
Bad Bunny is a US citizen;
and there are tens of millions people like him in this country who are native Spanish speakers.
But with that, the other part of the backlash has been Bad Bunny’s outspoken criticism of Donald Trump and his administration’s immigration policies.
He previously avoided touring in the US over fears his fans would be detained by ICE agents – instead staging a record-breaking residency in Puerto Rico.
And he more recently blasted ICE while accepting his Grammy award for album of the year:
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say: ICE out.”
“We’re not savages, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans. And we are Americans.”
“The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love.” (BYTE: 0:05-0:13, 0:42-0:51, 1:27-1:31)
And with all that, you had Turning Point USA , the conservative nonprofit co-founded by Charlie Kirk, announcing an alternative event dubbed the “All-American Halftime Show.”
With a spokesperson saying it would celebrate “faith, family, and freedom.”
And headlining the show was Kid Rock – an outspoken Trump supporter whose 2001 track “Cool, Daddy Cool” features the lyrics:
“Young ladies, young ladies, I like ‘em underage.”
“Some say that’s statutory, but I say it’s mandatory.”[]
But despite that, you had scores of right-wingers saying they’d be tuning in – or at least that they wouldn’t be watching the official show.
Including Jake Paul of all people – who actually lives in Puerto Rico – and who you had slamming the halftime show just a few hours before it happened.
With him urging his followers to boycott the performance – saying:
“Let’s rally together and show big corporations they can’t just do whatever they want without consequences”.
And then calling Bad Bunny "a fake American citizen…who publicly hates America.”
Although you then had Logan responding to that post – writing:
“I love my brother, but I don’t agree with this. Puerto Ricans are Americans, and I’m happy they were given the opportunity to showcase the talent that comes from the island.”
And you also had Democratic lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio Cortez firing back– writing:
“A ‘fake American citizen?’”
“Didn’t you MOVE to Puerto Rico to avoid paying your taxes while kids across America go hungry?”
“Meanwhile Benito actually funds low income kids’ access to arts and sports programs, while you defund them.”
“Of course you’re mad. He makes you look small.”
And with that, today, you actually had Paul walking it back, saying he wasn’t calling Bad Bunny a fake citizen because he’s Puerto Rican, but because of his “values and criticism of our great country.”
With him later following up again by writing: “Guys i love bad bunny idk what happened on my twitter last night ?? wtf”
But with that aside, when it came to the actual show last night, it was almost inevitably political in some ways but he didn't directly criticize Trump or the administration.
And the performance has more been seen as a celebration of Puerto Rico and Latin America.
With fellow Puerto Rican artist Ricky Martin, for example, covering one of Bad Bunny’s songs, and Lady Gaga delivering a salsa-style version of one of her own.
You also had Latino celebrities like Cardi B and Pedro Pascal appearing on stage.
And there was a real honest-to-god wedding in the middle of the performance – with Bad Bunny serving as a witness and signing their marriage certificate.
Another viral moment was when we saw his Grammy acceptance speech playing on a small television as a young boy watched and was then handed the award.
You had many online believing the boy was actually Liam Ramos — a 5-year-old who was detained by ICE in Minneapolis – but that is not true.
And really the most explicit political messaging we heard came in the form of a call for unity.
He shouted “God bless America!” before naming most countries in South, Central, and North America – all the way from Argentina to Canada.
And then, he held a football with the words "Together, We Are America” while the massive screen behind him read "The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
But, of course, even though all these people said they wouldn’t be watching the show, they still had a lot to say about it afterwards – including Donald Trump.
With him saying it was “absolutely terrible” and “one of the worst, EVER!” – also claiming it was “an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence” – and adding:
“Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World.”
“This “Show” is just a “slap in the face” to our Country, which is setting new standards and records every single day…”
You also had the likes of far-right influencer Laura Loomer taking it in the direction of explicitly racist – baselessly claiming there were “Illegal aliens and Latin hookers twerking at the SuperBowl” before adding:
“Not a single white person or English translation at the Super Bowl.”
“This isn’t White enough for me.”
“Cant even watch a Super Bowl anymore because immigrants have literally ruined everything.”
You also Benny Johnson piling on – complaining that “no songs were in *our* language” and claiming“The NFL halftime show was a humiliation ritual to debase American culture on a national stage.”
With him then talking about how thankful he is that TPUSA put on a show that was just “feel-good banger after banger from American artists who love this country and who football fans can relate with.”
And with that, while right-wingers have been shitting on the widely praised Bad Bunny performance, they’ve also been arguing that they even clearly won the battle of the halftime shows.
In truth, of course, there’s little evidence of that.
We don’t have the viewing numbers for Bad Bunny yet, but if history is any indication, it’ll be over 100 million.
And the “All-American” half time show reportedly pulled a little over 6 million live viewers at its peak – although it also streamed on some other platforms.
And you actually had one popular right-wing account claiming “X usage got so high during the TPUSA All-American Halftime Show, the platform was down for brief moments.”
But as users pointed out, and as TPUSA itself announced, the real reason they had to cut off the X stream was licensing restrictions.
There's also actually been backlash from people on the right, namely Candace Owens, who has been a vocal Turning Point critic since Kirk’s assassination.
And you had her coming out against both halftime shows – writing on XT:
“I am sorry but I hate both options.”
“On the one hand, we have a half-time show presented without a word of English spoken.”
“On the other hand we have an organization that scammed its views by paying platform advertisers, followed by influencers to pretend they broke records.”
“The left vs. right grift is actually boring now.”
“What exactly are we doing here, America?”
And while it’s not entirely clear what she’s on about in terms of people being paid, that wasn’t the only issue others found with the show.
You’ve had some noting, for instance, that Kid Rock appeared to be lip syncing through at least some of his performance, which some have argued also appeared to be pre–taped.
And while he didn’t pretend to sing about his preference for underage girls, it’s still hard to argue all of the lyrics were family friendly – with one of his songs referencing “topless dancers" and "G's with the 40's and the chicks with beepers."
That said, you still had some influencers on that side claiming “Kid Rock brought millions closer to Jesus.”
With the same guy, who has over 600,000 followers on X, resharing Trump's post and adding:
“President Trump is always right.”
With him also suggesting Trump should be made the new commissioner of the NFL.
And ultimately it’s this type of total, sycophantic loyalty that the MAGA movement seems to increasingly demand – even at the expense of reality.
And that’s been on full display at the Winter Olympics – starting with Vice President JD Vance getting booed during the opening ceremony.
Right, that’s a fact.
That happened.
Not everyone booed, but it was audible and sustained, as confirmed by reporters on the scene as well as feeds from international broadcasters like the BBC and CBS:
But despite that, you still had MAGA accounts claiming despite what we can hear with our own ears that Vance wasn’t booed and, in fact, “the crowd ROARED and the cheers were even louder than for Italy.”
Although, notably, with that, you had some sharing the NBC broadcast, where you can’t really hear the booing, which has actually led to the network having to fight off allegations that it edited the audio.
But besides that whole saga, another big part of this is the criticism athletes are facing from even Trump himself for showing the slightest disagreement with his administration’s policies.
Right, at a press conference a few days ago, you had skiers on the US team responding to questions about what’s going on back home.
And you had two-time Olympian and gold medalist Chris Lillis saying he would never want to represent a different country – but adding:
"I feel heartbroken about what’s happening in the United States. I’m pretty sure you’re referencing ICE and some of the protests and things like that. I think that as a country we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure we’re treating our citizens as well as everybody with love and respect. And I hope that when people look at athletes competing in the Olympics, they realize that that’s the American that we’re trying to represent. ” (BYTE)
You then had first-time Olympian Hunter Hess adding:
"It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now I think. It's a little hard. There's obviously a lot going on that I'm not the biggest fan of and I think a lot of people aren't."
"Just 'cuz I'm wearing the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the U.S. I just kind of want to do it for my friends and my family and the people that supported me getting here." (BYTE)
And these comments have triggered a wave of outrage from those on the right who think athletes should stay quiet.
With some arguing they should be “sent back home immediately” and "should be no longer be allowed to represent us” – and some even saying their “citizenship should be revoked.”
And this kind of sentiment goes all the way to the top.
WIth Trump specifically calling out Hess in a post on Truth Social yesterday – writing:
“U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics.”
“If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
But with all that, there are many more athletes speaking up.
Skier Gus Kenworthy, who’s competing for the UK but grew up in the US, has been among the most outspoken.
You had him posting a photo on Instagram showing the words “fuck ice” peed into the snow – with his caption calling on people to call their Senator and speak up against the agency.
And you’ve since had him reporting receiving threats online.
And many others have made far more mild comments, and only in response to questions from reporters, but still faced similar backlash.
Last week, for example, figure skater Amber Glenn, who identifies as pansexual, made comments encouraging LGBTQ+ people to stay strong during what she called a difficult time for the community.
But she then reported that she’d be stepping away from social media after “receiving a scary amount of hate/threats for simply using [her] voice WHEN ASKED about how I feel.”
You also had Mikaela Shiffrin, who is considered one of the greatest alpine skiers of all time, getting some hate for speaking up generally about diversity and inclusion.
And two-time snowboarding gold medalist Chloe Kim is now the latest to come under fire for just calling for more love and compassion – with one of her teammates also saying she was “saddened about what’s happening at home.”
And so we’ll have to see if any more of these athletes get Trump’s attention and if so how many decide to continue saying how they feel.
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But back to the news, we have to talk about this PSA that Epstein survivors released on Super Bowl Sunday calling out Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the files.
Right, it starts with text noting that even months after the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed, 3 million files have still not been released to the public.
With redactions then covering the faces of survivors, who say:
“After years of being kept apart, we are standing together. Standing. Standing. Standing together. Because this girl deserves the truth. Because she deserves the truth. Because we all deserve the truth. (0:16-0:29)
And then it ends with text urging viewers to demand that Bondi tell the truth.
The women made the ad with the help of World Without Exploitation, which also has a petition in support of the survivors right now.
And while some reports suggest it did air in some markets, others say it was primarily intended to be a digital ad that capitalized on the attention of the Super Bowl.
With tons of politicians sharing it, saying it was the most important ad of the day.[][][]
And it comes at a crucial time, because starting this week, members of Congress can review the Epstein files unredacted.
The files will be made available on computers in a room at the DOJ building, and while lawmakers cannot bring electronics into this room, they are allowed to take notes on what they see.[]
Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna will be going today, with Massie actually asking Americans which files he should prioritize. []
And among the top responses, you have one file where a redacted email address tells Epstein: “Thank you for a fun night...Your littlest girl was a little naughty.”[]
As well as another email from a redacted address mentioning a “torture video.”[]
And an FBI intake sheet referencing a child’s body being buried in New Mexico.[]
So we will have to see lawmakers end up saying after viewing the files, if it leads to another push for everything else to be released, if any major questions actually get answered.
Because today, Ghislaine Maxwell was supposed to answer some of those big questions, but gave us nothing.
Right, she had a virtual deposition with the House Oversight Committee and ended up pleading the fifth on every single ask.
Though, it is technically still possible she might answer questions in the future, she just has one major condition, with the lawyer saying:
"Ms. Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump."[]
He even said Maxwell would provide testimony claiming that both Trump and former President Bill Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing.
But this demand has outraged lawmakers, who said that:
“She must immediately be sent back to the maximum security prison where she belongs.”[]
Others pivoting blame to Trump for not concretely ruling out a pardon for Maxwell, saying:
“Ghislaine Maxwell should have no hope of ever getting out of prison.” (0:01-0:04)
“She's campaigning over and over again to get that pardon from President Trump, and this president has not ruled it out. So that's why she's continuing to not cooperate with our investigation." (0:15-0:25)
“This was an effort to essentially secure her pardon by keeping her mouth shut.” (2:03-2:09)
“President Trump could end that today. He could rule out clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell the monster. He could rule out a pardon for GM the monster. The question for all of us today is why hasn’t he done that? And why won’t he do that?” (1:07-1:26)
But also, if you think the Epstein files are creating a political mess over here, you should see what’s happening in the U.K.
Right, we talked a bit about this before, Ambassador Peter Mandelson resigned from the Labour Party and House of Lords after portions of the files suggested he gave Epstein confidential information about the government and economy while in office.
And that is creating a major headache for Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Starmer’s Chief of Staff just resigned for having a part in appointing Mandelson to an ambassadorship, saying:
“the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself.”
“I advised the prime minister to make that appointment, and I take full responsibility for that advice.”[]
But there is a ton of pressure for Keir Starmer himself to resign, too, and it is unclear if his Chief of Staff’s move will help him at all.
Starmer has tried to address the controversy by apologizing to victims, saying:
“I am sorry. Sorry for what was done to you. Sorry that so many people with power failed you. Sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him.”
But still, even people in his own party want him out. []
Also in the U.K. former Prince Andrew is embroiled in even more scandal in the files.
Because police are investigating claims that he also gave confidential information to Epstein.
Which, it is amazing to watch a country take these allegations seriously, because our President is implicated in incredibly disturbing parts of the files, and the odds of him resigning or facing a crumb of a consequence are slim to none at this point.
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[Then, in other news] It’s been nine days since Nancy Guthrie went missing, and time is running out.
Right, as we talked about last week, the 84-year-old mother of Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie first went missing from her home near Tucson, Arizona, on February 1st, and law enforcement officials believe she was taken by force.
But local authorities have warned that time is of the essence here because Nancy needs to take daily medication and could die without it.[]
Now, as of recording, law enforcement officials have said they still haven’t identified any suspects or persons of interest in the case.[]
But over the past week, multiple ransom notes have been sent to various media outlets.
With the local CNN affiliate KGUN News reporting that it had received a ransom note demanding $6 million in Bitcoin and threatening Nancy’s life unless the amount is paid out by today. []
Though, notably, that outlet has since deleted videos on social media that mentioned the demand and removed the $6 million figure from its online article. []
And on Wednesday, you had Savannah Guthrie posting an emotional video alongside her siblings, where she acknowledged the reports of ransom notes and said her family was “ready to talk” to the’ kidnappers as long as they could prove she was still alive.
But — key thing here — law enforcement officials have not publicly verified the authenticity of any of these letters.
In fact, you even had the FBI saying last week that they had determined that one of the ransom notes was sent by an “imposter” who has now been arrested for sending a fake message in an attempt to profit from the kidnapping.
But over the weekend, you had Savannah and her siblings posting another video, addressing the possible kidnappers and seemingly referencing a specific ransom note:
“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.” (Play whole clip)
And while Guthrie didn’t specify which “message” she was referring to, the FBI confirmed that she was talking about a message sent to the CBS affiliate KOLD on Friday.[]
But KOLD has said that it will not reveal the contents of that message “out of respect for both the family and the investigation.”[]
So we don’t have any real idea of the demands that were made, though you did have an anchor for the station telling CNN that the message included sensitive information and no deadline.
And adding that the sender seemed to make an effort to include details that would prove that they were the same person who sent another ransom note earlier in the week.
But for now, we’re just going to have to watch this situation closely for more answers, and in the meantime, again, our hearts go out to Nancy Guthrie’s family, friends, and loved ones.
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