WASHINGTON — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that he is directing his state government to launch an inquiry into Bud Light's parent company, AB InBev, over its partnership with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
DeSantis, who's running for the GOP presidential nomination, accused the beverage company of not following its "fiduciary duty" to shareholders and pensioners by collaborating with Mulvaney.
"When you start pursuing a political agenda at the expense of your shareholders, that’s not just impacting very wealthy people.
It impacts hardworking people who were police officers, firefighters and teachers in terms of the pension," DeSantis said in an interview on Fox News.
DeSantis said Florida had $53 million worth of InBev stock in Florida's pension funds of about $180 billion.
The governor claimed that shareholders were affected after sales of Bud Light declined as a result of conservative backlash to the beer brand after it worked with Mulvaney.
DeSantis' office pointed to a letter he posted on Twitter on Friday morning that he sent to the interim executive director of the State Board of Administration calling for an inquiry. »
