Fox News Airs Segment Encouraging Viewers to Drink Bud Light

Fox News promoted Bud Light and other Anheuser-Busch products on its network despite the conservative backlash that the beer brand and its parent company have faced over the last couple of months.

Fox aired a segment with the CEO of Folds of Honor, a nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships to military families, during which Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney encouraged viewers to drink Anheuser-Busch beverages to help support Folds of Honor.

"We kick off 13 years of partnership with Anheuser-Buch. They've donated $22 million. We've got awesome new products coming out," Rooney said while holding up a Budweiser bottle. "So, people literally can crack a cold Budweiser, a Bud Light and celebrate their freedoms, but also provide educational scholarships to the military and first-responder families who have sacrificed so much for the freedoms that we enjoy."

Bud Light has faced fierce criticism and calls for boycotts since April, when transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted a promotional video of her drinking the beer brand. The row over Mulvaney's clip is part of a wider national conversation about the inclusion of transgender women in female issues and spaces.

This legislative session alone, more than 520 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced by Republican lawmakers across the U.S. and over 220 of those bills specifically target transgender and non-binary people, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

Two weeks after the backlash began, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth told customers: "We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer." Two weeks after that, another top executive downplayed the collaboration, telling investors that it was not a "formal campaign or advertisement."

The brand's response sparked further scrutiny, but instead of being attacked by conservatives, it was members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community who slammed Anheuser-Busch for not defending Mulvaney against the threats she received.

HRC, which is the nation's largest advocacy group, suspended Anheuser-Buch's Corporate Equality Index score and nearly two months after the original post. Mulvaney addressed the matter, describing the harassment she faced and detailing the lack of action from Bud Light in the wake of the controversy.

"I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me but they never did and for months now I've been scared to leave my house," Mulvaney said in a video last week. "For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse in my opinion than not hiring a trans person at all."

Bud Light sales have continued to suffer, and former customers have repeatedly mocked the brand online.

Last month, the brand suffered its worst decline yet, with a 30 percent drop in sales. The company then tried to boost sales for the Fourth of July by lowering the cost of its cans, but even after those efforts, photos of Bud Light being left on the shelves of major retailers were circulated online.

Over the weekend, Bud Light was attacked again when the company tweeted, "It's 4th of July weekend, enjoy some beer 🍻." Social media again slammed the brand.

Newsweek reached out to Fox News for comment.