Far-Right Fundraising Was the Real Point of the "All-American Alternative Halftime Show"
The culture war funding MAGA's political agenda
The priority of Turning Point USA’s “All-American Alternative Halftime Show” wasn’t just “protecting” “real” Americans from Puerto Rican artistry with Kid Rock ba-wit-da-ba-ing about topless dancers. The main objective of the show was to capitalize on an advertising opportunity: let the culture war fund MAGA’s political agenda.
Predictably, the performers traded on conservative Christian-coded Americana, trucks, beer, guns, fishing, and Jesus, and tried to brand it as a reclamation of “real” America. But the low-budget washout wasn’t really a Braveheart battle in defending themselves in their perceived culture war against “Faith, Family, and Freedom”, as TP billed it.
It was a fundraiser.
Come for the “threat” against the primacy of the English language and “real” (read: white Christian conservative) American entertainment. Stay to raise money to protect and enshrine the primacy of the English language and “real” Americans with politics.
Turning Point USA is a 501(c)(3) conservative “Christian” nonprofit targeting high school and college students with more than 2,000 campus chapters across the U.S., (according to their website.) They publish watchlists for professors they claim "discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom." They also dox school board members for promoting mask mandates during Covid and any anti-racism curriculum TP deems un-American.
Many people had never heard of TPUSA until “liberals” started getting fired for quoting founder Charlie Kirk’s own words after he was killed. But it is just one arm of the Turning Point political advocacy conglomerate of “freedom fighters” working “endlessly to save America.” Kirk’s memorial service was also a televised fundraiser for Turning Point.
The arm of this movement that can more overtly target voters and more explicitly advocate for specific political causes is Turning Point Action, with the 501(c)(4) IRS designation. They partner with other right-wing organizations to increase their outreach advance their conservative agenda, particularly in swing states.
The actual money machine is the official Turning Point Political Action Committee raising money to directly fund approved political candidates and campaigns with tax-deductible contributions from donors.
Kid Rock is not where the actual culture war is happening. It’s at TPPAC and other far-right PACs and orgs raising money for conservative Christian candidates and campaigns. TPPAC’s website lists their official endorsements for current congressional candidates and includes a “scorecard” ranking each state’s freedom by one of five levels: Free State, Losing Freedom, Erratic State, Becoming Tyrannical, and Tyrannical State. These rankings are based on each state’s “score” on the Second Amendment, “American culture”, border security, free speech, and other factors.
This is the kind of political activity their alternative halftime show was raising money for. The boots and trucks aren’t the point. The xenophobia is. The racism is. They are raising money to elect candidates who share their values and support their causes.
TPPAC’s fundraiser played on the grievances of the right and the far-right to raise money for the real battles: the ballot box and the legislature. They want to keep supremacy white and white-subordinate.
We can get distracted by Kid Rock, a lip-syncing rich kid who grew up to cosplay as “trailer trash” after several other music-genres-as-costumes failed to make him famous. Trump also grew up rich and panders to the working poor and Christian conservatives. He grew up rich enough to be insulated from his failures in Hollywood, the NFL, and at most of his numerous business endeavors.
Although Trump’s multiple failures to buy NFL teams undoubtedly fueled his politicized tantrums about the Super Bowl, he wasn’t alone in his racist outrage.
“When inclusion is framed as invasion, it reveals the real fear isn’t loss of culture — it’s loss of control,” Trans United Fund explained. “Expansion doesn’t erase anyone. It just means more people get to belong.”
Losing control is exactly what Turning Point is raising money to prevent. They do not want more diverse people to belong because conservatives might lose control to them. They want white Christian conservatives to dominate, not just in entertainment, but in politics. They want the English language to dominate the American political and cultural landscape. And they will aggressively fundraise to stay in power.
“This gets at something deeper than halftime shows. When diversity is framed as an ‘attack,’ what’s really being threatened isn’t identity — it’s dominance. And once you see that pattern, it shows up everywhere: in language, in outrage cycles, in the way normal inclusion gets recast as persecution.” (You can follow Trans United Fund at RESIST | FIGHT for more incisive political insight and advocacy.)
If you do not think diversity is threatening Americans or American culture, if you know that different cultures, languages, food, music, lifestyles, and beliefs make this country more vibrant, more robust, we know which candidates not to vote for: anyone Turning Point funds or endorses.