Fox News Promoting Bud Light for 4th July Sparks Outrage: 'Tone Deaf'

Fox News has come under fire from conservatives after it aired a segment that cast beer giant Anheuser-Busch in a positive light after the Bud Light producer faced a backlash over a partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

In an interview on the conservative network on Monday, Dan Rooney, CEO of veterans scholarship organization Folds of Honor, praised the brewery for donating $22 million and said the "easy way to say, 'I love my country,' is [to] crack a cold Budweiser."

It comes as Fox News faced accusations of being "tone deaf" after it placed Bud Light cans among products on a table to demonstrate how inflation had affected the prices of different products likely to be bought for the Fourth of July. Modelo Especial, a Mexican competitor brand, was also featured.

Since early April, Bud Light has faced calls for a boycott after it sent a promotional can to Mulvaney to commemorate her first year of transitioning to a woman.

Bud Light's parent company Anheuser-Busch was accused of alienating its customer base with the partnership, while some in the LGBTQ+ community have slammed the company for not defending its collaboration with Mulvaney.

In the three months since the controversy began, the brand has seen consistent declines in sales compared to the same time in 2022, with much of its customer base seemingly flocking to rival brands.

After what critics have described as a series of PR missteps, Anheuser-Busch has seemingly attempted to recover from the controversy by returning to appealing primarily to its traditional beer drinkers.

Asked by Fox News's Steve Doocey how viewers could help with the Folds of Honor effort over the holiday weekend, Rooney responded: "Thirteen years ago, I reached out to this company, Anheuser-Busch, and they said, 'Hey, we believe in you.'

"In its core, Folds [of Honor] is about believing in people so they believe in themselves—and Anheuser-Busch did that for me."

The former F-16 pilot then held up a metal bottle of Budweiser, describing it as "an awesome new product," before adding: "So people literally can crack a cold Budweiser, a Bud Light, and celebrate their freedoms, but also provide educational scholarships to the military and first responder families who have sacrificed so much for the freedoms that we enjoy."

Reacting to the interview, Rogan O'Handley, a conservative social media personality, described the segment as a "Bud Light commercial," adding that the network was "nothing but CNN with a blue background."

He urged followers to bypass the "middleman" and "donate directly to Folds of Honor."

While some Twitter users noted that former president Donald Trump, who retains popularity among conservative voters, continues to offer Bud Light at his hotels, others said they would "not be swayed" by the interview.

Ariel Duchesne, a self-described "super MAGA," called for "no Anheuser-Busch products."

The same day, Fox News aired another segment on the "cost to celebrate," looking at how the prices of common party items had changed this year. Alongside a bowl of crisps and glasses of lemonade, both of which the network said had declined in price, it featured cans of beer which it said had risen 6 percent.

Brigitte Gabriel, a controversial author and founder of ACT for America, described it as "product placement," adding: "They are so tone deaf."

Newsweek approached Fox News via email for comment on Tuesday.

Subsequent to the boycott of Bud Light, Modelo Especial overtook it as America's top-selling beer in May. While the Modelo brand is owned by Anheuser-Busch globally, due to anti-trust laws for the U.S. market, it is produced and distributed by another company.