Bud Light Controversy: MAGA Pounces on Anheuser-Busch CEO's CIA Ties

Some conservatives and MAGA commentators pounced on Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth's connections to the CIA amid the continuing backlash against his company's recent Bud Light promotion featuring influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Bud Light, a prominent beer brand whose parent company is Anheuser-Busch, has been shunned by conservatives for almost two weeks after Mulvaney, a transgender woman, shared a sponsored video on her Instagram account announcing that Bud Light had sent her a customized beer can with her face on it. The beer can was sent to Mulvaney in celebration of the first anniversary since she transitioned. However, the company's apparent support for Mulvaney received backlash from some conservatives, who were outraged by the post and boycotted the beer in response.

In the wake of Whitworth's Friday statement in response to the boycott, some social media commentators—including supporters of the MAGA (Make America Great Again), a political slogan popularized by Donald Trump—cited the CEO's past work with the CIA.