White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre supported the marketing deal between self-identified transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney and beer brand Bud Light in what appears to have been the first Biden administration statement on the partnership.
Anheuser-Busch, the company which produces Bud Light, has witnessed backlash over the past few weeks after executives partnered with Mulvaney, who chronicled his supposed “gender transition” on TikTok. Jean-Pierre said during a Thursday press briefing that criticism from the Bud Light consumer base represents the purported societal rejection of transgenderism.
“When a transgender American posts a video about a brand of beer they enjoy and it leads to bomb threats, it’s clear that level of violence and vitriol against transgender Americans has to stop,” the official told reporters. “The administration is going to do everything that they can to protect LGBTQI+ people who are under attack. That’s what we’ve been seeing across the country, especially in statehouses.”
President Joe Biden hosted a discussion with transgender activists at the White House last year in which Mulvaney discussed “gender-affirming health care.” The commander-in-chief has since opposed legislation in various states which prohibit sex change surgeries and hormone treatments for children, ban sexually explicit drag shows for minors, and protect female sports leagues from men who identify as women.
The White House also issued a veto notice against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, a federal bill that passed the House of Representatives on Thursday without support from a single Democratic lawmaker.
“We’re going to fight alongside them to protect their rights. They should be allowed to be who they are, who they want to be,” Jean-Pierre continued. “That type of dangerous rhetoric, that type of vitriolic language and violence, that needs to stop.”
The White House recently sparked controversy after senior officials participated in several Transgender Day of Visibility events days after a woman who identified as a man killed three children and three adults at The Covenant School, a ministry of the conservative evangelical Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Biden has not met with families of the victims, but will host three Tennessee Democrats who were expelled or nearly expelled from the state’s General Assembly for breaking floor rules as they hosted a gun control protest.
Even as prominent Democrats assert that transgenderism remains outside of the societal mainstream, Mulvaney has a seemingly bottomless demand from brands that desire his endorsement even as their consumer bases voice frustration: makeup brand Ulta Beauty and fashion house Kate Spade have each partnered with the influencer, as have grocery delivery service Instacart, toothpaste brand Crest, and skin care line CeraVe.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP
Demand for Bud Light appears to have plummeted in the weeks since the partnership was unveiled through a social media campaign. Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth issued a statement at the end of last week in response to the controversy, but did not make mention of Mulvaney or transgenderism and neglected to offer an apology to offended customers. “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” the executive said. “We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”
