Zach Bryan sparked a new debate around politics during the Super Bowl halftime show after publicly criticizing Kid Rock’s alternative show hosted by Turning Point USA, calling it “embarrassing” and “grinding” before deleting the posts.
The country singer shared his reaction shortly after the 2026 Super Bowl LX Apple Music halftime show on Sunday, February 8, which was headlined by Bad Bunny.
During the broadcast of the official halftime performance, Turning Point USA promoted its own All-American Halftime Show, led by Kid Rock.
Bryan, 29, mocked the idea in a now-deleted Instagram Story, posting a photo of someone watching Kid Rock’s performance on a phone while physically blocking Bad Bunny’s show on screen.
“What Kid Rock is really thinking is happening across America,” Bryan captioned the photo, according to a screenshot later shared on X.
The post quickly sparked negative reactions.
In a follow-up story, also later deleted, Bryan shared a direct message he received from a social media user accusing him of selling out.
“You were my favorite artist. Now you’re just another idiot, an out-of-touch elitist,” the post read.
Bryan responded bluntly, making his position clear regardless of his political alignment.
“I don’t care what side you’re on, a bunch of adults throwing tantrums and their own halftime show is embarrassing as hell and the cringiest shit on the planet,” he wrote in the screenshot.
Turning Point USA had billed its event as a “family-friendly, values-driven” alternative aimed at viewers looking for “inspirational, patriotic entertainment.”
Kid Rock, a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, performed alongside country artists Lee Brice, Brantley Gilbert and Gabby Barrett.
The performance later sparked its own criticism, with viewers accusing Kid Rock of lip-syncing during Bawitdaba of his Devil without a cause album.
The 55-year-old musician, born Robert James Ritchie, responded to these claims during a February 10 appearance on Fox News“The Ingraham Angle.
“It was out of sync,” Kid Rock said, rejecting the accusation. He added that if the performance had been pre-recorded, “it would have been very easy to lip sync if it had been pre-recorded.”
Explaining further, he said: “I jump on stage like a mad monkey, I rap my song, I breathe, and my DJ fills in the other parts… I even told them that when I saw the first cut, I was like, ‘You need to work on this sync. It’s off.'”
He later described it as a technical problem, saying that production had tried to resolve it, but found it difficult.
Bryan wasn’t the only artist to step up after the Super Bowl.
Kacey Musgraves also praised Bad Bunny’s halftime performance while hitting out at Kid Rock.
“Well. This made me feel more proudly American than anything Kid Rock has ever done,” she wrote on X.
Although Bryan has since deleted his posts, the reaction shows how this year’s Super Bowl halftime programming has expanded beyond music, reigniting conversations about politics, patriotism and how artists choose to respond when entertainment and ideology collide.
