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Trump says Bud Light should be given a “second chance” after Dylan Mulvaney backlash
Former President Donald Trump is asking his supporters to give Anheuser-Busch a “second chance” after Bud Light’s marketing promotion last year with transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney sparked a backlash among some customers.
Some conservatives, including singers Kid Rock and Travis Tritt, vowed to boycott Bud Light over its teaming up with Mulvaney, causing sales to tumble and toppling the beer brand from its perch at the time as America’s best-selling brew.
Trump’s message comes just days before the Super Bowl, when Bud Light will return to the championship game with a humorous ad and a chance to make its pitch to hordes of beer drinkers. In a post Tuesday on Truth Social, Trump called Anheuser-Busch’s promo with Mulvaney “a mistake of epic proportions, and for that a very big price was paid.”
But, he added, “Anheuser-Busch is not a woke company.” He also went on to praise the beverage giant’s efforts to support farmers and create jobs, including employment for U.S. veterans. “Anheuser-Busch is a Great American Brand that perhaps deserves a Second Chance?” he added.
Shares of Anheuser-Busch rose 2% in premarket trading. The company didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Sales of Bud Light plunged 20% in 2023, according to data from Bump Williams Consulting. The slump has continued into 2024, with sales down 29.4% in the first four weeks of the year, the firm said.
In an email to CBS MoneyWatch, Bump Williams said sales of the beer brand “are still not looking too strong for Bud Light across America.”
“[W]e will see if former President Trump’s social media support on the brand will change that,” he added.
Anheuser-Busch CEO Michael Doukeris said in an October earnings call that its U.S. sales fell 13.5% in the third-quarter, which he blamed partly on lower Bud Light sales. He added that the company’s research found that its customers “want their beer without a debate.”
Trump’s post on Truth Social comes shortly before a planned fundraising event for Trump in March that will be hosted by a lobbyist for Anheuser-Busch, according to Politico.
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NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.