Photo by Eric Rojas
Audio By Carbonatix
When it was announced that Bad Bunny would headline the Super Bowl 60 halftime show in Santa Clara, California, reactions were as fiery as Florida’s July sun. Fans were thrilled since Bad Bunny had previously said he wouldn’t tour in the U.S. due to concerns that ICE might target his fanbase. Meanwhile, critics on the right weren’t celebrating. They labeled him a “massive Trump hater,” an “anti-ICE activist,” and griped about his lack of English-language songs. Then came his cheeky line on Saturday Night Live: “You have four months to learn Spanish,” which added fuel to fire.
But what really sent Miami into a social media frenzy was a seemingly innocent comment by Florida’s First Lady, Casey DeSantis.
“Not trying to start anything here, but honestly… who exactly is Bad Bunny?” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter), complete with a bunny emoji.
New Times covered the post with an article titled Florida’s First Lady Claims She Has No Clue Who Bad Bunny Is, and our Instagram followers wasted no time chiming in. From political scandal to pop culture allegiance, here’s what readers had to say.
A $10 Million “Whoops”?
Plenty of users pointed out that the First Lady’s memory seems to be selective — especially when it comes to her own controversies. Many tied her “Bad Bunny amnesia,” as one user pointed out, to the ongoing criminal investigation into the Hope Florida Foundation, the nonprofit she leads. Florida prosecutors have recently convened a grand jury to examine whether $10 million in Medicaid settlement funds were improperly funneled through the charity into a political committee aligned with DeSantis’ administration.
“Just like she didn’t know about the $10M that mysteriously appeared in her nonprofit’s account?” one user wrote. That sentiment echoed widely. “Says the woman who took $10 million from Medicaid, put it in her nonprofit, then used $5 million to fight marijuana legalization and $5 million to fight for abortion rights. Make it make sense,” another commented. A third person added, “Much like those $10 million she and her hubby stole from taxpayers, huh?” And another user was blunt: “We all know who Casey is, though. She stole $10 million from a Florida Medicaid settlement. Where’s the money, @RonDeSantis?”
Not the Real First Lady for Miamians
Others took a more playful approach. Some Miamians were quick to nominate a different First Lady altogether — one who knows a thing or two about music. “Gloria Estefan is our First Lady. Period. Next question.” “I thought Gloria Estefan was Florida’s First Lady,” someone else added, a comment that quickly racked up over 100 likes. Another user chimed in, “And she definitely knows who Bad Bunny is!”
Bad Bunny Is More Popular Than Casey DeSantis
Then there were those who flipped Casey DeSantis’ question right back on her. Who is she, anyway? “Who is Casey DeSantis?” a user asked — a comment that appeared more than once. Someone else joked, “To be fair, he has no idea who she is either.” And a last one kept it short and sweet: “To be fair… I don’t know who she is.”
Want to join the conversation? Let us know what you think about the First Lady’s pop-culture blind spot, and whether Bad Bunny’s halftime set is worth the hype.
