Donald Trump Jr called on conservatives to end their boycott of Budweiser and Anheuser-Busch as many on the right have expressed outrage at the company for partnering with a transgender woman.
The former president’s son spoke on his show “Triggered With Don Jr.”
“I’m not for destroying an American, an iconic company for something like this,” he said.
Conservatives reacted with fury when Bud Light partnered with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender TikTok influencer for the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament. Ms Mulvaney has documented her experiences of transitioning in the past year in her day “of being a girl” series. The company also released a can showing her face.
That led to many conservative figures expressing outrage about the partnership. Kid Rock posted a video of himself shooting cases of Anheuser-Busch’s beers. Country singer Travis Tritt said he would ban Anheuser-Busch products from his tour rider.
But Mr Trump said that he did not blame the company as a whole.
“The company itself doesn’t participate in the same leftist nonsense as the other big conglomerates,” he said. “Frankly, they don’t participate in the same woke garbage that other people in the beer actually do, who are significantly worse when I look into it.”
Ms Mulvaney for her part defended her partnerships with Bud Light and Nike from the torrent of criticism on the right.
“The reason that I think I am so…I’m an easy target is because I’m so new to this,” she said. “I think going after a trans woman that’s been doing this for like 20 years is a lot more difficult. I think maybe they think that there’s some sort of chance with me…But what is their goal?”
Ms Mulvaney added that she was not phased by the attacks.
“I’m not worried about the people talking about me on their podcasts, I’m worried about their listeners,” she said. “And I also think that, it’s just a heavy time. And it’s time to step up, for sure.”
-Amber Raiken contributed to this report.
