The Super Bowl, the most popular sporting event of the year, is officially over, and prominent conservatives wasted no time complaining about the halftime show.
The show, which featured performances by artists such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar, appeared to irk former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who asked what the "message of the halftime show" was.
Dear @NFL / @pepsi \nWhat was the message of the #HalfTimeShow ?— Sean Spicer (@Sean Spicer) 1644802070
A fact that appeared to evade Spicer is that February is Black History Month and that the halftime show was a celebration of hip-hop, a genre of popular music developed in the United States and emerged as a subculture and an art movement from the Bronx in New York City during the early 1970s.
While the Super Bowl has featured hip-hop artists and rappers during halftime performances in the past, this year's show marked the first time that hip-hop acts were "the sole, main attraction," as pointed out by Juwan J. Holmes, the Associate Editor of IntoMORE.
Holmes goes on to note that "it was largely Black people that pioneered the Super Bowl as the ultimate home for the best of entertainment," stressing that Black contributors have continued to play these important roles without receiving proper credit or recognition.
Many stressed these facts while mocking Spicer for his questionable question.
If you don\u2019t know that February is Black History Month then I don\u2019t know what to tell you. For years we have sat through every gender and race performing. But I guess an all Black cast excluding Eminem have you turning into a pretzel. That sounds like a You problem to me.— Nana_52 (@Nana_52) 1644804665
That their careers outlived yours.https://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/1493034215927169025\u00a0\u2026— Mondaire Jones (@Mondaire Jones) 1644803750
A question never asked when Tom Petty or The Who played halftimehttps://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/1493034215927169025\u00a0\u2026— Uncle Mark \ud83d\udc0f (@Uncle Mark \ud83d\udc0f) 1644824083
The same message as every halftime show. Popular songs by popular artists you idiot.https://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/1493034215927169025\u00a0\u2026— Travon Free (@Travon Free) 1644826432
Here we go- the GOP is no longer just pro-white, they are now also about erasing Black historyhttps://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/1493034215927169025\u00a0\u2026— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@(((DeanObeidallah)))) 1644841307
The message was that racists will show themselves by vocally misunderstanding the message of the halftime show.https://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/1493034215927169025\u00a0\u2026— Sharky \ud83e\udd88 (@Sharky \ud83e\udd88) 1644854871
Message? It\u2019s a halftime show you lying twit. \u201cBuy more Pepsi\u201d maybe. \n\nWent back through your tweets. You didn\u2019t ask this when it was Springsteen.https://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/1493034215927169025\u00a0\u2026— Titus (@Titus) 1644856374
You wore ruffles and danced on TV. What was your message? https://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/1493034215927169025\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/wTS3igTgwB— Devin Nunes Is No Longer In Congress (@Devin Nunes Is No Longer In Congress) 1644811614
Why are these fools so upset by people having a good time?https://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/1493034215927169025\u00a0\u2026— Niles Francis (@Niles Francis) 1644809909
Spicer isn't the only conservative to face criticism for their remarks about the halftime show.
Earlier, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, referred to the NFL as "the league of sexual anarchy" and suggested it "should not be allowed on television.”
Kirk's comments prompted Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, to call him a "weirdo," a reference to her prior criticisms of Republicans for their remarks regarding issues surrounding sex.
Last year Ocasio-Cortez said that Republican men have consistently vented their "very obvious, strange, and deranged sexual frustrations" onto her, other women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.