Hegseth and his right-wing channel have gone all in on a takedown of Budweiser because it partnered with Mulvaney, a transgender actor who documented her transition on TikTok. In a social media post for Bud Light, Mulvaney promoted the beer during March Madness and poked fun at her lack of sports knowledge. She then showed off a can Bud Light made with her face on it.
But a conservative uproar generated a Bud boycott and financial consequences for the beer brand. Hegseth, filling in on “Jesse Watters Primetime,” told viewers he was pleased to see the results for himself at a New York Yankees game with colleague Will Cain over the weekend.
“There was nothing more satisfying than seeing fridges full of untouched Bud Light, normally the best seller,” Hegseth said. “We all drank a local IPA beer instead. So did most everybody else.”
But then he got hit by reality with the force of an Aaron Judge home run.
“Now I was gonna make a big deal about this, proud of our stand we took, until ‘Primetime’ producers told me the local beer we were drinking is actually owned by — Anheuser-Busch,” Hegseth said, referring to the Bud Light parent company. “No wonder I feel a little funny today.”
Hegseth conceded that “we have lost this battle but we can win the war against Big Busch.”
The company has attempted to ameliorate ale-raising reactionaries with a bland apology and a commercial drowning in hackneyed patriotism. But it looks like Fox News and others will continue foaming at the mouth over a beer company’s small attempt to be more inclusive.
