Screenshots via Facebook/Rep. María Elvira Salazar, YouTube/CNN Latino Miami
Audio By Carbonatix
Miami Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar seems to have forgotten how she got her start before entering politics.
The former longtime Spanish-language TV journalist was evidently dissatisfied that Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show was not in English.
“The Super Bowl is the biggest game of America’s most iconic sport,” Salazar wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “It’s a national moment to bring the whole country together, and let’s be honest — it should not be a multicultural fair. Its audience is overwhelmingly English-speaking, and they deserve a halftime show they can understand and enjoy.
“To have a fully Spanish-language halftime show, with no subtitles, isn’t inclusive. It’s exclusive. In Miami, we listen to Spanish music, but we put America First. Unfortunately, today, instead of talking about the great contributions Hispanics make to our country—the legal ones and the undocumented—we are debating how poorly this event missed the mark. A very big opportunity lost!!”
The daughter of Cuban exiles, the Republican congresswoman was born in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood and spent a portion of her childhood in Puerto Rico — Bad Bunny’s home country. Before becoming a politician, she spent three decades working in Spanish-language journalism for CNN en Español, Telemundo, Univision, América Tevé, and Mega TV.
Former Florida Sen. Annette Taddeo was quick to point out that Salazar built her career in Spanish-language TV.
“Pitiful, María Elvira. Your entire career was in Spanish media, communicating in Spanish, seeking votes in Spanish… but when Bad Bunny’s Spanish appears in the Super Bowl, it’s a threat to the nation,” the former Democratic senator wrote on X. “Hispanics are not electoral props or an accessory to hide when it’s uncomfortable. We are part of the fabric of this nation, period. TOGETHER we are America, even if some are ashamed to admit it.”
Another X user chimed in, “This being said by a person who worked as a news anchor for a Spanish-language television is so lmao. Let the gringos make this argument; this is beneath even Salazar.”
One person called Salazar “ridiculous and incoherent.”
“You can’t be more ridiculous and incoherent,” the post reads. “You worked in Spanish TV in the USA, you won with the vote from [sic] Hispanic community, you post in Spanish and do [sic] politics campaign in Spanish…”
Other X users couldn’t believe that this post came from a congresswoman whose district (FL-27) is primarily Hispanic.
Reed Galen, political strategist and cofounder of the pro-democracy organization the Lincoln Project, said, “This is crazy. Her district is 73.6 percent Hispanic.”
On Tuesday, a day after Salazar slammed the all-Spanish halftime show, the Miami congresswoman posted a tweet exclusively in Spanish.
“Siempre un placer encontrarme con nuestra patriota cubana, la inigualable Ninoska Pérez Castellón @NinoskaPerezC,” she wrote alongside a photo. In English, that reads, “Always a pleasure to meet up with our Cuban patriot, the incomparable Nonoska Pérez Castellón.”
X users quickly pointed out the hypocrisy, once again.
“English-only por favor que usted as America first,” a comment reads.
Another added, “English please.”
One quipped, “You should tweet in English, remember… AMERICA FIRST”
A user responded, “Ahora hablas español.”
