Olympic champion Caitlyn Jenner is facing a slew of vicious anti-trans attacks for endorsing Trump’s call to conservatives to give Bud Light a “second chance” and end their boycott of the beer manufacturer over its brief partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
After saying she agreed with the former president and urged his supporters to “move forward,” Jenner—arguably the most prominent transgender person in the world and staunch conservative herself—was hit with a barrage of slurs from conservative and right-wing media figures, who also went out of their way to deadname her.
Trump took to his social media site this week to press conservatives to drop their rage against Bud Light—just weeks before a top Republican lobbyist for Anheuser-Busch is set to host a big-dollar fundraiser for the ex-president, who also happens to be a stock owner in the beer company.
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“The Bud Light ad was a mistake of epic proportions, and for that a very big price was paid, but Anheuser-Busch is not a Woke company,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Anheuser-Busch is a Great American Brand that perhaps deserves a Second Chance? What do you think? Perhaps, instead, we should be going after those companies that are looking to DESTROY AMERICA!”
Trump was referencing the one-off social media advertising deal Anheuser-Busch struck with Mulvaney in April 2023, which also included the manufacturer sending her a commemorative beer can. The brief partnership, which only involved the influencer posting one video online, sparked a massive backlash from conservatives that resulted in plummeting sales.
Since then, Bud Light has forged sponsorship deals with UFC and controversial comic Shane Gillis in an attempt to rebrand itself, and even Kid Rock has gone back to drinking the beer. Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch is betting big on this weekend’s Super Bowl to move past the right-wing-fueled controversy. But many conservatives have been reticent to follow suit, especially transphobic Daily Wire podcast Matt Walsh, who says Bud Light must “grovel at our feet in humiliating fashion and disavow gender ideology entirely.”
Jenner—an avowed Trump supporter who has launched a second career as a right-wing pundit—entered into the Bud Light fray on Tuesday night, doubling down on Trump’s olive branch while recounting her own positive experience with Anheuser-Busch.
“As someone that worked for this incredible American company, and got to know them very well, I raced for @AnheuserBusch in the 80’s I agree with @realDonaldTrump,” she tweeted.
“Look at what the company does for so many Americans and their track record over the years. They made a huge mistake and have paid a large price,” Jenner added. “I think it is time to move forward - I am saying we should focus on big picture…agreeing with 45!”
Despite the fact that Jenner has described herself as “anti-woke,” backed the GOP’s push to ban trans athletes from female sports, and even recently claimed that trans women aren’t really women, the reality TV star was widely mocked by the right for backing Trump on Bud Light.
“Bud Light screwed up by working with a trans influencer, but they’re not woke. To prove it, here’s a message from OUR trans influencer,” Townhall writer John Hasson reacted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Hasson’s tweets, including ones in which he ridiculed and misgendered Jenner, were typical of the mockery from prominent conservatives who have long complained that Trump isn’t anti-trans enough for them. Many of them were supporters of Ron DeSantis’ failed presidential campaign, which largely revolved around culture war issues and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
Blaze TV co-host Todd Erzen, for instance, grumbled that “Iowa evangelicals voted for this by a 2-1 margin,” referencing Trump’s blowout victory in the Iowa caucus.
“Bruce Jenner and Donald Trump want to give up on the one conservative boycott that has made a substantial difference in my lifetime,” Cole Muzio, president of the conservative Christian group Frontline Policy Action, tweeted.
Will Chamberlain, the former publisher of right-wing outlet Human Events who recently worked on DeSantis’ campaign, groused: “I’ve really had quite enough of Caitlyn Jenner conservatism.”
John Cardillo, another former Trump supporter who backed DeSantis in the 2024 GOP primary, said this “is the most amazing lack of self-awareness and the culture wars I’ve ever seen.” Notably, after Cardillo called Trump as “pro-trans as Biden” last summer and deadnamed Jenner, the former athlete sarcastically wondered if the pundit was “transitioning” since he had “bigger breasts than” her.
Meanwhile, the backlash only grew uglier and anti-trans slurs were tossed around with abandon—including by the likes of Patrick Parsons, former chief of staff for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Lizzie Marbach. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Marbach was fired last summer as the communications director of the anti-abortion group Ohio Right to Life over her inflammatory social media posts.
Jenner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Following Jenner’s failure of her longshot California gubernatorial bid, Fox News announced in March 2022 to great fanfare that the network had hired her as an on-air contributor, making her the only trans woman with a paid cable news deal. At the time of her hiring, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott described Jenner as “a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community” and an “inspiration to us all.”
The conservative cable giant bringing Jenner aboard came just as the channel was ramping up its transphobic commentary while embracing the GOP’s flood of anti-trans legislation across the country. The Olympic gold medalist, however, largely stuck to the conservative narrative surrounding LGBTQ issues and spent much of her airtime railing against trans women in sports and praising Trump.
While Jenner was initially a frequent presence on the right-wing network, appearing dozens of times between her hiring and mid-2023, her appearances suddenly dried up last summer. Though the network has continued to obsess over trans issues in recent months, Jenner has not popped up on Fox airwaves since August 14. Despite Jenner’s half-year absence, the network has insisted that she remains in “excellent standing” as a Fox contributor.
