Joe Scarborogh mocks Franklin Graham for promoting TPUSA halftime show

Evangelical leader Franklin Graham drew sharp criticism from MS NOW host Joe Scarborough after he praised a conservative alternative to the Super Bowl halftime show featuring Kid Rock while slamming the NFL for promoting a “sexualized agenda.”

Bad Bunny, a Puerto Rican artist whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, headlined the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday. The news that Bad Bunny would headline the show raised concerns from conservative advocacy groups about the singer’s outspoken support for LGBT issues and opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration policies. 

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show, which prompted calls for a boycott from some conservative leaders, featured homages to Latin American culture and surprise guest appearances. While the performance largely avoided political controversy, some viewers objected to sexually suggestive dancing by performers in a program watched by children. 

In response to the NFL’s halftime plans, Turning Point USA, the conservative activist organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk, announced its own Super Bowl halftime show headline by Kid Rock.

During the show, the rap-rock artist — whose real name is Robert James Ritchie — shared the Gospel message with a cover of Cody Johnson’s chart-topping hit “Til’ You Can’t,” adding a new faith-focused verse he said came to him unexpectedly. The show also featured Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett. 

The TPUSA alternative drew praise from Evangelical leaders and pastors, including Graham, the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, who voiced disappointment in the league’s direction. 

“Like most Americans, I’ve enjoyed watching the Super Bowl. But the halftime shows began pushing moral boundaries and have become more and more sexualized,” he wrote on X. “This year, they’re having Bad Bunny perform. The @NFL leadership is pushing this sexualized agenda. Thank you, @TPUSA and @MrsErikaKirk for providing an alternative —’The All-American Halftime Show’ with the agenda of celebrating family, faith, and freedom!”

On Monday’s episode of MS NOW’s “Morning Joe,” Scarborough called out Graham and highlighted Kid Rock’s past work.

“It was 133 million people watching [Bad Bunny] instead of alternative programming where they had a guy performing who, of course, throughout his career has preached the glories of — Franklin Graham, I guess, likes this because he said it was a God and country thing — but a guy who has preached the glories of having sex with underage girls and setting up escort services atop the Four Seasons, cowboy,” Scarborough said.

While the MS NOW host didn’t offer details, his comments appeared to refer to lyrics from Rock’s 2001 song “Cool Daddy Cool” from the “Joe Dirt” soundtrack: “Young ladies, young ladies, I like ’em underage, see / Some say that’s statutory.”

The host expanded his critique to broader accusations against Graham, the son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham and head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and other Trump supporters, claiming their “self-righteousness” and moral posturing were a “sham” in defense of “an immoral, corrupt regime.”

The Christian Post reached out to Graham for comment on Monday.

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn. has called for a congressional inquiry into Bad Bunny’s halftime show, accusing the production of highlighting “explicit and indecent content” and glorifying “sodomy.”

“The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show was pure smut, brazenly aired on national television for every American family to witness,” Ogles wrote in an X post Monday. “Children were forced to endure explicit displays of gay sexual acts, women gyrating provocatively, and Bad Bunny shamelessly grabbing his crotch while dry-humping the air. And if that weren’t outrageous enough, the performance’s lyrics openly glorified sodomy and countless other unspeakable depravities.”

Speaking with Fox News last week ahead of the show, Kid Rock defended the intent of TPUSA’s “All-American Halftime Show.”

“I think I speak for Turning Point and all the artists involved, that none of us are approaching this with any hate in our hearts at all,” Kid Rock said Friday on “Fox & Friends.”

“There’s a big portion of this country, like it or not, that’s underserved entertainment-wise. We’re just [going to] go play for our base. You know, people who love America, love football, love Jesus.”

The TPUSA event, which was streamed online Sunday evening, drew an audience of approximately 19 million total views, according to reports Monday. 

Official ratings for the NFL halftime show are set to be released on Tuesday.