On his podcast on Thursday, Donald Trump Jr. defended Anheuser-Busch, which owns Bud Light, encouraging his listeners to stop boycotting the company. He argued that the company was too “iconic” to be boycotted and that Anheuser-Busch executives have learned a valuable lesson from their ill-advised partnership with Dylan Mulvaney.
“Anheuser-Busch messed up with this Dylan Mulvaney situation, but I’m not in favor of destroying an American company as iconic as this for something like this,” Trump Jr. said.
“When I actually look into it, I’m not gonna blame the whole company for the inaction or the stupidity of someone in a marketing campaign that got woke as hell,” he added.
Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, has experienced significant backlash since Mulvaney’s announcement earlier this month that a special commemorative can had been created to celebrate his one-year anniversary of pretending to be a little girl. The controversy has led to a sharp decrease in demand for Bud Light, with retailers all over the country reporting a significant drop in sales.
As a result of the backlash, Anheuser-Busch has lost a staggering $6 billion in market value. But, according to Trump Jr., not only has the lesson been learned, but conservatives should also stop boycotting the beer conglomerate because the company donates mostly to Republicans.
“We looked into the political giving and lobbying history of Anheuser-Busch. And guess what? They actually support Republicans,” he explained. “Last cycle their employees and their PAC gave about 60 percent to Republicans and 40 percent to Democrats. That’s literally almost unheard of in corporate America, where it’s really easy to go woke, where they do so constantly, where there’s a consequence to actually being a conservative. So 60 / 40 to the conservative side is kind of a big deal.”
While I’m sure that’s true, why does that matter? By creating a commemorative can for Mulvaney’s one year of girl cosplay, Anheuser-Busch is endorsing the “trans cult” and promoting a harmful social agenda. Trump Jr. went on to claim that the company “doesn’t participate in the same leftist nonsense as the other big conglomerates.”
Related: BRUTAL: Bud Light Feels the Backlash After It Sneaks Back on Social Media
“Frankly, they don’t participate in the same woke garbage that other people in the beer industry actually do, who are significantly worse offenders when I looked into it,” he added.
Really? Is that why they have a 100% rating from the Human Rights Campaign? Has Trump Jr. not seen the rainbow Bud Light cans they’ve done in the past?
“But if they do this again, then it’s on them! Then, screw them.”
The controversy surrounding the Bud Light can has highlighted the risks of woke corporate activism. While many companies are eager to virtue signal their commitment to social issues, they do so at the risk of alienating their customers.
In this case, it seems that Anheuser-Busch misjudged the mood of its customers and failed to anticipate the level of backlash that the can would generate. They did the crime; they have to do the time.
It is important to recognize that this issue goes beyond just sending a message to Anheuser-Busch about legitimizing transgenderism. It serves as a warning to all businesses that their actions can have significant consequences.