Conservatives are backpedaling on their Bud Light boycott. To understand why, follow the money

Last week, ten months after numerous right-leaning public figures called for a boycott of Bud Light because of the beer brand’s short-lived partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to say that it’s a “Great American Brand that perhaps deserves a Second Chance.” 

“The Bud Light ad was a mistake of epic proportions, and for that a very big price was paid,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. “On the other hand, 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. They’ve raised over $30,000,000 and given 44,000 Scholarships.”

Trump isn’t the only conservative to soften his stance on the Bud Light boycott in recent months. In November, for instance, musician Kid Rock — who infamously kicked off his boycott of the brand by tearfully shooting cases of Bud Light in a field — told “Fox News” host Sean Hannity that he “didn't want to be in the party of cancel cultures and boycotts that ultimately hurt working-class people.” He said he’d reconsidered the boycott in light of his religious beliefs: “As a God-fearing man, as a Christian, I have to believe in forgiveness. They made a mistake, all right. What do you want, hold their head under water and drown them and kill people's jobs? I don't want to do that.” 

The month prior to that, UFC CEO Dana White appeared on Fox News to announce a partnership with Bud Light, citing numbers suspiciously similar to those used by Trump on Truth Social; per a recent CNBC report, Trump’s post about the brand likely came after a conversation with White. 

Then, following Trump’s post, conservative commentator and reality television star Caitlyn Jenner took to X, formerly Twitter, to voice her agreement with the former president’s statement. “As someone that worked for this incredible American company, and got to know them very well, I raced for @AnheuserBusch in the 80’s I agree with @realDonaldTrump,” wrote Jenner. “Look at what the company does for so many Americans and their track record over the years. They made a huge mistake and have paid a large price. I think it is time to move forward – I am saying we should focus on big picture…agreeing with 45!”

Some conservative commentators, including journalist John Hasson , were quick to point out the irony of Jenner — who came out as a transgender woman during a “20/20” television interview with Diana Sawyer in April 2015 — commenting on how huge a “mistake” Bud Light made in partnering with a transgender influencer and activist. “Bud Light screwed up by working with a trans influencer, but they’re not woke,” he wrote in response to Jenner’s comments. “To prove it, here’s a message from OUR trans influencer.”

That statement teases out just a bit of the mental gymnastics conservatives are having to do to reconcile the quickly fraying edges of their very vocal boycott of the brand — but what’s behind the growing collective walk-back? 

In part, this is an obvious business play from Bud Light. Last year, as Salon Food reported, the brand tried to play both sides of the political fence following the fallout of the Mulvaney ad, starting with the company’s tepid response to the transphobia the boycott incited. "We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,"  Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said in an April 14 statement titled "Our Responsibility to America."

He said the company has "a proud history supporting our communities, military, first responders, sports fans and hard-working Americans everywhere," and that he would "continue to work tirelessly to bring great beers to consumers across our nation."

However, based on Bud Light’s rock-bottom year-end numbers, that strategy obviously wasn’t working, so it appears like the company’s leadership is making a concerted effort to reestablish its conservative customer base. In addition to partnering with the UFC —whose CEO, White, described the concept of transgender women competing in women’s sports as “"nutty [and] insane” — Bud Light recently announced a partnership with Shane Gillis, the comedian who was infamously fired from “Saturday Night Live” in 2019 before even appearing on the show after racist and homophobic comments from his podcast recirculated. 

On Tuesday, Bud Light posted a photo of Gillis at a Budweiser brewery with the caption: “Welcome to the team. Excited to be a part of your 2024 tour.” Gillis posted additional photos from the brewery tour later that day. 

As reported by Them, “in several (now-deleted) segments from Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast with cohost Matt McCusker, Gillis referred to comedian Chris Gethard and director Judd Apatow as ‘white faggot comics,’ and used an anti-Chinese slur repeatedly, including in an extended segment with McCusker about reasons to dislike Chinese people.” 

Gillis later referred to himself as a “comedian who pushes boundaries” in a statement defending the jokes, and while he apparently doesn’t dig the “conservative comedian” moniker, he has endeared himself to the political right for his response to being “canceled.” For example, since Gillis’ partnership with Bud was announced, Greg Gutfield has already asked: “Comedian Shane Gillis beat cancel culture, can he save Bud Light?” and went on to praise the brand for “rediscovering their core values.”

Of course this isn’t a one-sided reconciliation — which is especially apparent if one follows the money. 

White obviously has an interest in Bud Light’s financial wellbeing given the UFC’s partnership with the brand. Meanwhile, as Spectrum News reported, in just a few weeks Donald Trump Jr. will be in Washington for a campaign fundraiser with lobbyist Jeff Miller, whose firm has collected $820,000 from Anheuser-Busch since 2020, including $270,000 last year, lobbying disclosures show. 

Additionally, according to financial disclosures he signed and submitted to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Trump also owned between $1 million to $5 million of stock in Anheuser-Busch, Bud Light’s parent company.