Former President Donald Trump's plea for conservatives to give Bud Light parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev a "second chance" was followed by a quick rise in the company's stock price.
Conservatives have been boycotting and denouncing the company since nearly a year ago, when transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney promoted Bud Light in a single Instagram post during an ongoing conservative culture war crusade against transgender rights.
Trump said that the Mulvaney ad "was a mistake of epic proportions" in a Truth Social post on Tuesday, while pleading with supporters to give the beer brand another chance because "Anheuser-Busch is not a Woke company."
Records indicate that the former president owns up to $5 million in Anheuser-Busch InBev stock, something that he failed to mention as he was touting the virtues of the "Great American Brand" earlier this week.
The company's stock prices shot up almost immediately after the Trump endorsement, rising by about 3 percent at the end of Tuesday. Prices stayed up in the following days, reaching a high of $65.94 per share on Wednesday, not far from the stock's 2023 peak of $67.09.
Newsweek reached out for comment to Trump's office via email on Friday night.
Trump was notably absent among conservative voices calling for a boycott of Bud Light after Republican uproar over the Mulvaney ad erupted in April.
The former president has other ties to Anheuser-Busch InBev. He is planning to attend a fundraiser next month hosted by Republican lobbyist Jeff Miller, whose firm reportedly collected $260,000 from the company last year.
Trump's apparent attempt to rehabilitate the Bud Light brand against the backdrop of still-simmering conservative outrage did not go over well with all of his supporters.
Anti-transgender activist Matt Walsh responded by denouncing Trump for having "no strategic reason" to abandon an "effective boycott" against a company that he claimed was attempting to "push transgenderism."
On the other hand, transgender Trump supporter and former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner praised the ex-president for promoting what she said was an "incredible American company."
While touting Anheuser-Busch in his Truth Social post, Trump also said that he was "building a list" of alternative "woke" companies that he claimed were working to "destroy America," threatening to release the list "for the World to see."
The ex-president is not the only figure from MAGA world to defend Bud Light. His son, Donald Trump Jr., notably defended Anheuser-Busch InBev shortly after the Bud Light boycott began last year.
After praising the company for donating to Republican political candidates and suggesting the Mulvaney ad was "a one-off colossal screw-up," Trump Jr. received backlash from MAGA supporters who accused him of being a "RINO" ("Republican in name only") for not backing the boycott.
Anheuser-Busch InBev stock prices fell slightly on Friday, while still being about $2 more per share than before ex-president's endorsement. The share price was again rising slightly during after hours trading at the time of publication.
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Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
