Trump requests conservatives retreat from Bud Light boycott, faces pushback
Former President Donald Trump is facing backlash from conservatives over his social media post advocating against the continued boycott of Bud Light, which sparked outrage for partnering with trans-identified influencer Dylan Mulvaney last year.
In a post on Truth Social Tuesday, the 2024 Republican presidential frontrunner declared "the Bud Light ad was a mistake of epic proportions, and for that a very big price was paid."
Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of the beer brand, lost billions in value in the weeks following its partnership with trans-identified influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Bud Light first faced calls for a boycott in April 2023 after the company sent Mulvaney customized beer cans with his face on them to celebrate his "first year of girlhood."
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While Trump acknowledged the boycott's success, he insisted that Anheuser-Busch "is not a woke company."
"Anheuser-Busch spends $700 Million a year with our GREAT Farmers, employ 65 thousand Americans, of which 1,500 are Veterans, and is a Founding Corporate Partner of Folds of Honor, which provides Scholarships for families of fallen Servicemen & Women," he added. "They've raised over $30,000,000 and given 44,000 Scholarships. Anheuser-Busch is a Great American Brand that perhaps deserves a Second Chance?"
After offering up that rhetorical question, Trump concluded by urging his supporters to instead target "those companies that are looking to DESTROY AMERICA!"
Trump remains the frontrunner to receive the Republican nomination for president in 2024 and currently leads President Joe Biden by 1.9 points in the RealClearPolitics average of polls measuring voter intentions in a hypothetical matchup between the two.
Trump's Truth Social post did not sit well with conservative blogger Matt Walsh, one of the strongest advocates in favor of the Bud Light boycott.
"We managed to organize the first effective conservative boycott ever," he wrote in a post on X Tuesday.
"Nobody has given any good reason why we should surrender now without an apology or concession. Anheuser-Busch isn't even an American company. We would be snatching defeat from the jaws of victory for the sake of rescuing a foreign corporation from the consequences of its own actions."
Describing the proposal to abandon the Bud Light boycott as "absolute madness," Walsh asserted that "Trump gave no strategic reason why abandoning this one single effective boycott effort would be a good idea."
"Apparently we should back off because it would be the nice thing to do and it's very important to be nice to foreign conglomerates who push transgenderism," Walsh wrote.
On Tuesday, the government relations firm Miller Strategies announced that a fundraiser for Trump featuring several Republican lawmakers and his son Donald Trump Jr., will take place on March 6 in Washington, D.C. Those hoping to attend must pay $1,000 while "co-hosts" will be charged $5,000 and "hosts" have to pay $10,000.
Data compiled by the campaign finance website OpenSecrets reveals that Anheuser-Busch was one of 59 clients that Miller Strategies worked with in 2023. The beverage company paid Miller Strategies $260,000 to engage in lobbying on its behalf last year.
The mixed martial arts promotion company Ultimate Fighting Championship announced a partnership with Anheuser-Busch late last year. UFC CEO Dana White defended the partnership with Anheuser-Busch, which was announced after the Mulvaney backlash, by saying, "There are many reasons why I chose to go with Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light, most importantly because I feel we are very aligned when it comes to our core values and what the UFC brand stands for."
Trump's defense of Bud Light came on the same day that the beer brand released a Super Bowl commercial featuring White and other celebrities, specifically singer Post Malone and former football player Peyton Manning. White has emerged as one of Trump's strongest supporters. The two received a warm welcome as they walked into Madison Square Garden to watch a UFC fight last year.
Bud Light is not the only major chain to become the subject of boycotts over its embrace of LGBT ideology.
Last year, the retail chain Target attracted similar backlash for selling "tuck-friendly" swimsuits designed to conceal the male genitalia of trans-identified males who wish to wear women's swimsuits and other LGBT-related merchandise during LGBT Pride Month.
Additionally, Starbucks was criticized for partnering with a trans-identified actor to create an ad that promotes the idea that a person can change their gender. Meanwhile, Adidas sparked outrage by allowing a male model to wear a women's swimsuit created as part of the clothing company's "Pride 2023" collection.
Amid the backlash over Bud Light's collaboration with Mulvaney as a brand spokesperson to "authentically connect with audiences," an alternative beer brand emerged. Ultra Right Beer, which characterizes itself as "100% Woke-Free Beer," urges beer drinkers to "stop giving money to woke corporations that hate our values."
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
