Trump Tells Followers to Give Bud Light a ‘Second Chance’ ahead of Fundraiser with Anheuser-Busch Lobbyist

Former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Tuesday, asking his followers to give Anheuser-Busch — the parent company of Bud Light — a second chance.

“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,” Trump wrote. “Anheuser-Busch is a Great American Brand that perhaps deserves a Second Chance? What do you think? Perhaps, instead, we should be going after those companies that are looking to DESTROY AMERICA!”

Bud Light sales tumbled last year after the brand partnered with transgender social-media influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April, sparking a months-long boycott that sent Anheuser Busch stock plummeting. In a year-over-year analysis of January 2023 and January 2024, Bud Light sales fell nearly 30 percent, while Budweiser fell by 15 percent.

Trump added that he’s “building a list” of anti-American companies “and might just release it for the world to see.”

The former president also said the massive beer company spends $700 million a year on U.S. farmers, employs 65,000 workers, and provides scholarships to U.S. students.

Trump’s message arrived just before Jeff Miller, a top Republican lobbyist for Anheuser-Busch, announced that he will be hosting a fundraiser for the former president next month. Anheuser Busch paid Miller’s firm $260,000 in 2023, according to lobbying disclosure forms reviewed by Politico.

Miller, who built his lobbying business during the Trump years, announced Tuesday on X that he would be hosting the Washington, D.C. fundraiser. The event is set to feature over a hundred members of Congress, as well as special guest Donald Trump, Jr. Tickets for the event range from $1,000 to $10,000 each.

Trump’s comments come after his son, who is expected to attend Miller’s fundraiser, defended Bud Light on a podcast earlier this year.

“I’m not, though, for destroying an American, an iconic company for something like this,” he said on Rumble. “Frankly, they don’t participate in the same woke garbage that other people in the beer industry actually do who are significantly worse offenders when I looked into it.”

After receiving Trump’s endorsement, Anheuser-Busch InBev shares rose more in one day than in any other day over the last three months. On Wednesday, the company’s stock rose four percent — its best single day of gains since a five percent rise on October 31 of last year.