RNC Accused of Breaking Out the Bud Light at Elite Spring Retreat
If you have been paying even a modicum of attention to the intersection of culture and politics, you’ve no doubt heard by now that conservatives are none too pleased with Bud Light and its parent company Anheuser-Busch.
To wit, Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light drew the scorn of conservatives, activists and general beer drinkers across the country when it began working with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Backlash to that ad campaign was so bad that it cost Anheuser-Busch billions in market value.
In turn, that successful campaign against Bud Light has actually sparked something of a peculiar debate within moderate-to-conservative leaning circles: Was this the right move to make against Anheuser-Busch? Or, was this cancel culture run amok and a bridge too far?
That debate was sparked anew on Wednesday evening when conservative activist and journalist Benny Johnson posted “insider” photos of the Republican National Committee Spring Meeting showing that Bud Light was being served there.
Johnson blasted the establishment GOP in a tweet, calling them “oblivious” and “spiteful to their base.”
🚨BREAKING: Insider just sent me photos of Bud Light proudly being served at the RNC Spring Meeting
Bud Light is facing a massive, successful nationwide conservative boycott for featuring Anti-Woman Activist Dylan Mulvaney in an ad
RNC remains oblivious & spiteful to their base pic.twitter.com/YVpGzUVHLE
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 26, 2023
“Insider just sent me photos of Bud Light proudly being served at the RNC Spring Meeting,” Johnson tweeted. “Bud Light is facing a massive, successful nationwide conservative boycott for featuring Anti-Woman Activist Dyland Mulvaney in an ad.
“RNC remains oblivious & spiteful to their base.”
That sentiment clearly garnered rapid support, amassing 20,000 likes less than a full day after it went up.
The comments underneath it largely echoed that, but there were also a few commentators who disagreed with the general sentiment.
Prager U personality CJ Pearson felt that the Bud Light being served was less of a function of the RNC bending the knee to Big Booze and more a function of the hotel running the event.
Hotel is probably to blame. Credit where credit is due, though: doesn’t look touched to me at least 😂
— CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) April 27, 2023
The RNC Spring Meeting, described by Politico as a “donor retreat” for “wealthy Republicans,” took place in Nashville, Tennessee, and took place over the weekend of April 14.
While the RNC has not publicly commented on the ostracized beer being served at the event, the entire debate over Bud Light cancellation does bring into question the entangled nature of big money in politics.
According to watchdog group Open Secrets, Anheuser-Busch is a major political donor, spending millions of dollars in contributions (and even more for lobbying.)
So was Bud Light being served at the RNC Spring Meeting a harmless mix-up, one that might’ve been out of the hands of RNC leadership?
Or is it a more sinister sign of the RNC being unable to extricate itself from one of the biggest political donors in existence?
Looking at Twitter responses to Benny Johnson’s photos, it’s clear which answer his audience gravitates towards.
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