Ron DeSantis promises to boycott Bud Light before admitting he prefers LGBTQ+-friendly Guinness

The staunchly anti-LGBTQ+ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is the latest politician to join the Dylan Mulvaney brewhaha, advocating a conservative boycott of Bud Light.

He then admitted that he prefers Guinness, a beer that has been advertising to LGBTQ+ customers as well.

Two weeks ago, trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted a video to Instagram where she showed off some custom beer cans Bud Light sent her that had her face on them. The video was sponsored, just like Anheuser-Busch sponsors videos from “hundreds” of social media influencers.

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The right has spent the last two weeks outraged at Bud Light for working with the transgender influencer. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. George Santos (R-NY), and musician Kid Rock were just a few of the prominent conservatives who made a point of attacking the beer brand over the short video.

DeSantis, who has spent much of his time in office attacking LGBTQ+ rights, is not one to be left out.

“Why would you want to drink Bud Light?” he complained on The Benny Show, an alt-right podcast hosted by Benny Johnson. “I mean, like, honestly that’s like them rubbing our faces in it, and it’s like these companies that do this, if they never have any response, they’re just going to keep doing it.”

“So, if you as a consumer are like, ‘Yeah, they’re basically’- and, I mean, it’s such a fraud what they’re doing with that, but, like, ‘Yeah, they’re doing that, but I’m just going to keep drinking it anyways.’ Well, then they’re going to keep doing it. So I think we have power as consumers to make our voice heard.”

“And not on every company because sometimes conservative consumers aren’t going to make a dent in some companies. This one is one. If you don’t have conservative beer drinkers, you’re going to feel that. And so, you know, I think it’s a righteous- I think it’s a righteous thing.”

He said it’s a sign of “corporate America” trying to take over the country: “I’d rather be governed by ‘we the people’ than companies.”

Johnson then asked DeSantis if he’ll ever drink Bud Light again.

“No, I don’t think so,” DeSantis said. “You know I’m trying to think like what, what would I do if I had….”

“So they’ve lost a customer?” Johnson asked.

And then he decided to qualify his statement.

“But, you know, my wife and I, they don’t have it here if we ever go out to just have a beer – which admittedly we don’t have the ability to do that like we used to, you know — we actually like the stout, the Guinness,” DeSantis explained.

“We were, uh, years ago we went to Dublin, we went to some other places, and we’ve always been a fan ever since.”

EXCLUSIVE: Gov. DeSantis On Bud Light Boycott:

"Why would you want to drink Bud Light?

If we don't push back they're gonna keep doing it. If you don't have conservative beer drinkers, they're gonna feel that.

It's a righteous. Pushback is in order.

I'll never drink Bud again" pic.twitter.com/tIOI1W8c1J — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 17, 2023

Guinness, though, has been making LGBTQ+-inclusive ads since at least 1995.

In 2015, they made this ad with gay rugby player Gareth Thomas.

Guinness is owned by Diageo plc, which also owns J&B whisky, which ran this heartwarming trans ad last year. It was something conservatives were quick to point out on social media as evidence that DeSantis supports “groomers.”

Is this Guinness ad real? They went full groomer! https://t.co/oTrwb4ziTR — Peachy Keenan (@KeenanPeachy) April 18, 2023

Diageo also owns Smirnoff, which has been advertising to LGBTQ+ people for years. The vodka has long been associated with Pride and makes ads like this.