GOP senators aren’t fazed by the latest Bud Light controversy, which has embroiled several high-profile Republicans in a public feud with Anheuser-Busch, the beer brand’s parent company.
Despite new calls from prominent Republicans to end the Bud Light boycott, three GOP senators from Ohio, Texas and Montana told newsweek on Wednesday that the ban on the beer brand does not deviate from the party’s priorities, saying it highlights the values of GOP voters.
“I do not think so [the controversy] distracts from Republican priorities,” pointed out Republican Senator JD Vance of Ohio. newsweek, “If a company that relies heavily on working-class Republican voters chooses to disrespect its customer base, it will face the consequences.”
Conservative commentators and conservatives have called for a boycott of all Anheuser-Busch products in recent weeks in response to a promotional partnership between Bud Light and transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The social media post, uploaded on April 1, has received strong reactions, including from Kid Rock, who posted a video of Bud Light shooting cases that went viral.
But people like Donald Trump Jr. and Ned Ryun, CEO of the conservative organization American Majority, seemed ready to forgive and forget, arguing that Anheuser-Busch is a big GOP donor.
“The company itself doesn’t participate in the same left-wing nonsense as other big conglomerates,” Trump Jr. said in his recent episode. motivated podcast. “Frankly, they don’t participate in the same garbage that other people in the beer industry actually do, they’re pretty bad criminals when I see it. But if they do it again, it’s on them!”
Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks at a hearing with the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Capitol Hill March 1, 2023 in Washington, D.C. Cruz calls it “incredible” to weigh in for Anheuser-Busch Stupid than” said. Calling Partnership With Mulvaney “Fake”[ed] and ridicule[d] their customers.”
Anna Moneymaker / Getty
Nonetheless, GOP Senator Ted Cruz called the partnership with Mulvaney “fake”.[ed] and ridicule[d] their customers.”
“I’m hard-pressed to think of an example where a company understands less about the consumers who actually buy their products,” Cruz said. newsweek, “They are facing a backlash from their customers, and this is part of a wider pattern of woke corporations disrespecting their own consumers.”
However, there have been claims that Anheuser-Busch lost $4 billion as a result of the association with Mulvaney. newsweek Fact Check noted that the fall is not far off from other volatility in the market prior to April 1. Therefore, “the Mulvaney ad may have had an effect on the share price, but other important factors also influenced investor decision-making.”
At the same time, marketing experts say Bud Light could see an increase in sales, or what is known as a “boycott”, when consumers buy more of the product in defiance of the boycott.
The criticisms of Bud Light also come as Republican state lawmakers have hammered out a flurry of anti-transgender laws across the country, including bills that would restrict participation on sports teams, block access to medical care and disqualify transgender students. Schools are required to exclude them from their parents.
Senator Steve Dines, who as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee oversees the party’s strategy to regain control of the upper house of Congress, told newsweek The issue does not “deviate” from the GOP’s priorities, saying that the outcry surrounding Bud Light is evidence that “America’s heartland and so many Americans reject this work ideology.”
Cruz agreed, saying that the Mulvaney ad showed a “broad pattern of woke corporations doing real harm”.
The Texas Republican said, “Too many big business leaders willing to kneel before the radical left to advance their own politics at the expense of their customers are acting directly contrary to the views of many Americans.” “I think big companies should stay out of politics, and the phrase ‘go wok go broke’ is proving more and more true every day.”
