Donald Trump has continued his war of words with the pop star Rihanna after branding her Super Bowl 57 halftime show an “epic fail.” The singer has previously landed in the former president’s crosshairs after posing alongside anti-Trump graffiti.
The Barbadian musician performed a string of her hits during the halftime break in Sunday’s Super Bowl showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles in Arizona. Rihanna’s show, during which she revealed she is pregnant with her second child, was widely hailed on social media – but Trump certainly wasn’t among her admirers.
“EPIC FAIL: Rihanna gave, without question, the single worst Halftime Show in Super Bowl history,” Trump wrote on Truth Social early on Monday. “This after insulting far more than half our nation, which is already in serious DECLINE, with her foul and insulting language. Also, so much for her ‘Stylist!’” added the former US leader.
Trump’s ire at the nine-time Grammy winner was likely fueled by a photo she uploaded to social media in 2020, which showed her posing alongside a car with the words “F*** Trump” spray-painted on it. Rihanna also took legal action against the then-president in 2018 to prohibit him from playing her hits at his rallies.
The pop megastar had been a vocal critic of Trump’s so-called ‘Muslim ban’ in 2017, in which he barred entry to the United States for people from seven majority-Muslim countries.
Trump also took aim at the singer in the days leading up to her Super Bowl performance, writing late last week that “without her stylist she’d be NOTHING. Bad everything, and NO TALENT!”
His stance was backed by Trump loyalist and Texas Congressman Ronny Jackson, who claimed on social media that Rihanna has “made a career of spewing degenerate filth while badmouthing America every chance she gets.”
The Super Bowl halftime show is one of the most-watched annual entertainment events in the world. The 2022 event, which featured rappers Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and others, drew a television audience in the US of more than 103 million people.
The Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl 57 on Sunday, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in a thrilling contest at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.