Former President Donald Trump wants the nation to give both his leadership and widely boycotted beer brand Bud Light a “second chance.”
A new NBC poll revealed that Trump, 77, has the “biggest lead” he has ever had against President Joe Biden in the five years the outlet has conducted the survey.
In a head-to-head match-up, Trump scored a 47% with registered voters, over Biden’s 42%. The spread increased to six points in the former president’s favor, when third-party candidates were added to the poll.
On the other hand, Bud Light is not faring so well with consumers in the wake of a nationwide boycott of the brand.
New Bud Light Trump ad just dropped. pic.twitter.com/681yYxGnfG
— Justin Hart (@justin_hart) February 6, 2024
The company’s sales showed a decrease of 29.9% for the week ending Jan. 20, compared with the same period the previous year, as reported by Fox Business.
Trump hopes that with his endorsement, he can help encourage Americans to go back to guzzling what was once the country’s best selling beer brand.
In a Tuesday afternoon statement on Truth Social, the ex-president lauded Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch, and said it was time to stop beating the company up over their “mistake.”
The brand faced epic conservative backlash following their decision to gift a specially designed can to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in an ill-concieved endorsement deal back in April of 2023.
Despite accusations of the company aligning with “woke” culture, Trump stood by Anheuser-Busch, acknowledging their contributions to American farmers and the bereaved families of military personnel.
“The Bud Light ad was a mistake of epic proportions, and for that a very big price was paid, but Anheuser-Busch is not a Woke company,” he began.
President Trump new statement on Bud Light:
"Anheuser-Busch is not a Woke company. They spends $700 Million a year on our GREAT Farmers, employ 65 thousand Americans…" pic.twitter.com/vwQt6LkIKd
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 6, 2024
He suggested that his own list of “woke” companies, soon to be made public, was in the making as a contrast to Anheuser-Busch’s unjust scapegoating.
He laid out the company’s patriotic investments and philanthropy, noting, “Anheuser-Busch spends $700 Million a year with our GREAT Farmers, employ 65 thousand Americans, of which 1,500 are Veterans.”
Trump added that the brand is the founding corporate partner of Folds of Honor, a non-profit that “provides Scholarships for families of fallen Servicemen & Women,” which through the support of Anheuser-Busch, has “raised over $30,000,000 and given 44,000 Scholarships.”
“Anheuser-Busch is a Great American Brand that perhaps deserves a Second Chance? What do you think?” Trump concluded.
“Perhaps, instead, we should be going after those companies that are looking to DESTROY AMERICA!”
Trump’s Truth Social statement mirrors recent messaging about the brand from musician Kid Rock, who Trump has been seen palling around with at UFC fights recently.
Rock who initially had a hair-trigger reaction to Bud Light’s Mulvaney fiasco, also thinks it’s time for America to “move on” from punishing the company.
Rock spoke to Tucker Carlson about his change of heart about the brand, which is a far cry from his initial reaction.
“American Badass” singer was one of the first people to react to the brand’s partnership with Mulvaney, and went viral for taking an automatic weapon to several cases of Bud Light.
— KidRock (@KidRock) April 4, 2023
He told Carlson that his actions at the time served two purposes: as a message to Bud Light, concerning their celebration of Mulvaney’s “365 days of girlhood” and as an excuse to fire off his brand new weapon.
Rock reasoned that while individual rights should be respected, companies must consider their core consumer base.
The “Bawitdaba” singer said that Bud Light had “deserved a black eye and they got one,” for their marketing “mistake.”
However, Rock shocked viewers when he said that Anheuser-Busch had faced enough repercussions from the American public.
He acknowledged the company’s oversight but disagreed with the extent of the ongoing boycott, saying, “Do I want to hold their head underwater and drown them because they made a mistake? No, I think they got the message.”
“Hopefully, other companies get it too, but, you know, at the end of the day I don’t think the punishment that they’ve been getting at this point fits the crime,” he explained.
Rock said he hopes to see consumers “get back on board,” because a forgiving America is the one he wants to live in.
“There’s nothing wrong with giving a spanking,” he told Carlson. “But you don’t spank them for the rest of their life.”
“Someone gets taught a lesson they say ‘we made a mistake.’ Alright man, let’s move on,” Rock concluded.