Following the controversial decision by Anheuser-Busch to celebrate Dylan Mulvaney’s gender transition and a subsequent boycott by many Americans disgusted with the brand’s priorities, Donald Trump Jr. called for Americans to stop the “Bud Light boycott” immediately.

“I’m not for destroying an American, an iconic company, for something like this. The company itself doesn’t participate in the same leftist nonsense as the other big conglomerates,” Trump Jr. said on his podcast “Triggered.”

Additionally, the National Republican Congressional Committee deleted a tweet in which it mocked Bud Light by launching a page selling a koozie that said, “This beer identifies as a water.”

The caption jested: “Thanks to Dylan Mulvaney, we can all finally admit that Bud Light tastes like water. With our new koozie’s, you can make sure no one confuses Bud Light with real beer ever again.” 

Soon after the NRCC sent the tweet, it was quietly deleted. 

Critics have pointed out that Anheuser-Busch gave the NRCC over $464,000 in 2022, and have claimed that this is a clear example of a dramatic backtrack from “biting the hand that feeds them.”

If this is why Trump Jr. and others have thrown their support in with Bud Light and its parent company, they are making a serious mistake. “Looking the other way” as corporations directly act against conservative values is an excellent way to find yourself swapping values for money.

In the school choice movement, education reform organizations have spent years looking the other way as donor groups saturated their recommendations and policy proposals with race and gender identity politics. I watched in 2020 as school choice organizations began to change their political messaging regarding social issues such as critical race theory and gender identity because they were terrified that the Waltons—of Walmart fame—might not cut them a check this year.

Organizations that once defended conservative values and stood as a bulwark against progressive cultural attacks are now moving their conferences from Texas to Colorado in order to provide attendees immediate abortion access. 

President Donald Trump argued that the temptation to call up donors was a massive mistake in 2020, telling Fox News, “I could get so much money in one day, give me one day and a telephone. I could get all these rich people that I know very well to put up millions of dollars apiece. The problem is then I’m obligated, I’m obligated to all of them, I don’t like being obligated.”

His statement is right on the money, no pun intended. The moment we start selling our values to the highest bidder, especially on culture issues, we lose credibility entirely. Defending Anheuser-Busch because it gives money to your campaign confirms the belief that many voters already harbor—the moment the door closes behind a politician, he will begin selling his constituents out to the highest bidder. 

The optics of such a blunder take a backseat to the tried-and-true principles etched in common sense.

Why would you want to support or defend a company advocating against your beliefs? Why would you choose to spend your time and money on a group that mocks your values?

When Gillette launched a commercial lambasting men over “toxic masculinity,” voters didn’t check to see who Proctor & Gamble had donated to. They took their business to companies who weren’t shaming them—and Gillette lost $5.24 billion. Gillette hasn’t released a “toxic masculinity” commercial since.

Treating corporations with kid gloves because they donate “big bucks” to you only enables those corporations to continue making a mockery of things you hold dear. Companies that don’t participate in as much “leftist nonsense as the other big conglomerates” are still participating in leftist nonsense.

To put things in perspective, $464,000 in political donations pales in comparison to the $5 billion that Anheuser-Busch has lost so far due to the silly decisions of a woke marketing team. Those rushing to defend an “iconic” company would do well to remember that Americans vote with both the ballot and their wallet.

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