Trump claims he’s making a list of ‘woke’ companies as he begs supporters to give Bud Light a ‘second chance’
The Independent previously revealed that the former president had a significant financial interest in the beer brand’s parent company
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Donald Trump has urged conservatives to relax their boycott of Bud Light brewer Anheuser-Busch over LGBT+ rights, extending an olive branch to one of America's biggest beer makers.
In a post on his social network Truth Social on Tuesday, Mr Trump described the company as "a great American brand that deserves a second chance".
He further claimed that he is compiling a list of "woke companies", and that Anheuser-Busch – which donated nearly $1.8m to Republicans in the 2022 elections – was not among them.
"The Bud Light ad was a mistake of epic proportions, and for that a very big price was paid," said Mr Trump, referring to last year's Pride Month advert featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney that triggered the boycott.
"But Anheuser Busch is not a woke company," he continued." I can give you plenty that are; [I] am building a list, and might just release it for the world to see.
"Why not? The radical Left does it viciously to well-run, conservative companies – and people! Very nasty, but it's the way they play the game."
Mr Trump, who was revealed last year to own between $1m and $5m in Anheuser-Busch shares, then segued into a strangely-worded passage reminiscent of a corporate press release, describing Bud Light’s payments to American farmers and its scholarships for families of military veterans.
"What do you think? Perhaps, instead, we should be going after those countries that are looking to DESTROY AMERICA!" he concluded.
Sales of Bud Light plunged last summer after a conservative backlash to the Dylan Mulvaney advert, dethroning it as America's best-selling beer brand and slashing its maker's US revenue between April and June by 10.5 per cent.
Nevertheless, the company has continued to donate to Republican candidates through its political action committee and executives' individual donations, according to the donation-tracking non-profit OpenSecrets.
It has donated more to Republicans than to Democrats in every election cycle since 1998, with the exception of 2008, 2010, and 2024 (so far).
Anheuser-Busch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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