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Donald Trump Jr. is coming to Anheuser-Busch's defense amid intense criticism sparked by a recent marketing campaign featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
While speaking on his podcast Triggered on Thursday night, Trump Jr. mentioned the recent backlash Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch are facing. "Is this a one-off colossal screw up? Or is it something bigger," Trump Jr. asked. "This could be the act of one rogue woke lunatic in a marketing department filled with leftist staffers." Donald Trump Jr. then referenced a Daily Wire report that no senior-level member at Anheuser Busch was aware of the partnership with Dylan Mulvaney.
Prominent conservatives said they would boycott Bud Light, which is owned by Anheuser-Busch, after the brand sent Mulvaney a personalized Bud Light can to celebrate the first anniversary of the beginning of her transition. Mulvaney posted a clip of this to Instagram in early April, as part of her Day 365 Of Girlhood video series.
The dispute over transgender brand ambassadors is symbolic of a wider debate about the inclusion of transgender women in female issues and spaces. Some say transgender women should be treated the same as other women, while others say they are different and that hard-won women's rights must be protected.
Trump Jr. continued, "We looked into the political giving and lobbying history of Anheuser-Busch and guess what? They actually support Republicans," he said.
"In woke corporate America, Anheuser-Busch supports Republicans. Last cycle their employees and their PAC [Political Action Committee] gave about 60 percent to Republicans," Trump Jr. said. Newsweek cannot independently verify that number.
He concluded his comments by asking fellow Republicans to leave them "alone" like he plans to. Trump Jr. also argued that "in the grand scheme of things, Anheuser-Busch [is] a lot less woke than corporate America."
Meanwhile, political analyst and Dillard University Professor Robert Collins told Newsweek on Saturday, "At the end of the day, it's always about money and campaign contributions. Anheuser-Busch, like most global corporations, gives money to both political parties."
"In addition to contributions from corporate PACs, corporate executives and large shareholders also give large contributions. High-ranking corporate executives actually tend to be Republicans. Donald Jr. understands that alienating those contributors is not worth the small, short term political publicity the Republicans will get from the publicity," Collins continued.
Collins concluded: "It's also important to point out that every major beer company has some sort of LGBT outreach campaign. Donald Jr. knows that and knows it's pointless to alienate a group of reliable contributors over a controversial influencer. There will be no long-term backlash. In a few weeks, the political types will have moved on to another issue."
Newsweek reached out to Donald Trump Jr. via Twitter for comment.
About the writer
Anna Commander is a Newsweek Editor and writer based in Florida. Her focus is reporting on crime, weather and breaking ... Read more