Ron DeSantis Goes After Bud Light in Latest Culture Wars Attack as He Slips in 2024 Polls

The far-right Florida governor and 2024 presidential candidate called the company's April partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney a "marketing misstep"

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis claims to be launching an inquiry into Bud Light’s parent company, AB InBev, over its partnership with transgender actor and influencer Dylan Mulvaney this past spring.

Mulvaney found herself at the center of unexpected controversy in April when she posted a video announcing a March Madness-related contest in partnership with Bud Light. The sponsored post quickly received negative commentary from right-wing social media personalities, politicians and celebrities, sparking conservative backlash against Bud Light's decision to partner with someone in the LGBTQ+ community.

Many critics used transphobic rhetoric to attack Bud Light for turning to “woke” advertising and playing off of the current political climate, which has seen a significant rise in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policy being introduced in many conservative legislatures. Bud Light's parent company, Anheuser-Busch, was also targeted.

On social media, many conservatives called for a "boycott" of the brand in addition to Anheuser-Busch's portfolio of products, which includes Budweiser, Busch, Stella Artois, Michelob Ultra and Hoegaarden. Others shared videos of themselves shooting beer cans and lighting beer boxes on fire.

Related: Dylan Mulvaney Says Bud Light Turned 'a Blind Eye' After Brand Deal Sparked Transphobic Comments

More than three months later, Gov. DeSantis, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, published a statement saying he became aware that the Florida State Board of Administration holds global equity assets with Anheuser-Busch and believes action must be taken against the company.

DeSantis' announcement comes just one day after he told Fox News that AB InBev is “pursuing a political agenda at the expense of” its shareholders, and said that Florida had $53 million worth of InBev stock in Florida's pension funds of about $180 billion.

“As you well know, AB InBev's performance has plummeted since its decision to associate its Bud Light brand with radical social ideologies,” his statement read. “That fateful decision has transformed America's formerly best-selling — and one of InBev's best-performing assets — into a commercial pariah.”

The statement — which is DeSantis' latest attempt at stoking right-wing culture wars after years of using his platform to rile up Republicans — further speculated that the “politicization” of the Bud Light brand “may be dragging down the value of other beverages within the AB InBev umbrella.”

Related: Everything to Know About the Bud Light Controversy

Following the April campaign, the AB InBev brand did struggle with numbers. According to NBC News, sales volumes of Bud Light for the week ending May 13 sank 28.4%, extending a downward trend from the 27.7% decline the week before.

Warning of a potential lawsuit, DeSantis on Friday asked his administration to review AB InBev’s “conduct” and how it has impacted funds.

“It appears to me that AB InBev may have breached legal duties owed to its shareholders, and that a shareholder action may be both appropriate and necessary,” the statement concluded.

Related: Garth Brooks Says He'll Sell Bud Light at His Nashville Bar: 'I Want It to Be a Place You Feel Safe In'

DeSantis' latest actions are not the first time he has targeted the LGBTQ+ community under the guise of ending "wokeness."

Perhaps the most visible of his attacks came with his advocacy for Florida's so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill in 2022. The measure — which first took effect last July and has since been expanded — blocks the discussion of certain LGBTQ+ topics (like gender identity and sexual orientation) in elementary, middle and high schools.

Related: The Most Controversial Bills Ron DeSantis Has Signed into Florida Law So Far This Year

DeSantis' delayed decision to publicly go after Bud Light also comes two days after Florida made news for approving new academic standards requiring middle schools to teach that enslaved people "developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit" — a line that immediately ignited significant controversy among teachers' groups.

The guidelines on how to teach about slavery were a response to the state's 2022 "Stop WOKE Act," something heavily supported by DeSantis, which stated that race must be taught in "an objective manner" that does not "indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view."

The measure pushed far-right lawmakers' rhetoric that teaching Black history makes White people feel ashamed, instructing that no student should be made to feel "guilt" or "responsibility" for actions previously committed by members of the same race.

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On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris strongly condemned Florida's new race education guidelines, saying they "push forward revisionist history."

"They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us," Harris said, "and we will not stand for it."

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