Leave it to Ted Cruz to ruin beer. On the heels of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ feud with Disney, Sen. Ted Cruz decided he wanted to get in on the prominent-Republicans-picking-fights-with-things-that-most-Americans-love game by targeting Bud Light.

What did the beer company do, you ask? Something heinous like flying off to Cancun while its home state dealt with a historically dangerous winter storm? And then joke about it afterward and blame their kids? Or did they shut down the government to oppose citizens getting affordable health care? No, those were all vintage Ted Cruz moments.

Bud Light made the audacious decision, much like Disney, to support transgender rights. This latest feud stems from a partnership Bud Light struck with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney during the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament. As part of the promotional campaign, Mulvaney — a trans woman with a substantial social media following — posted a tongue-in-cheek Instagram video in which she drank a Bud Light and proclaimed “Go team! Whatever team you love, I love too!” Bud Light also put Mulvaney's face on a beer can to celebrate her one year anniversary of transitioning to womanhood.

 

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This led to a hypocritical Republican effort to embrace the cancel culture they frequently rail against in an effort to turn the nation against one of the most prominent American companies and “cancel” Bud Light.

Now Sens. Ted Cruz and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee have sent a letter to Brendan Whitworth, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch and Chairman of the Beer Institute, urging Whitworth “in your capacity at Anheuser-Busch, to avoid a lengthy investigation by the Beer Institute by instead having Anheuser-Busch publicly sever its relationship with Dylan Mulvaney, publicly apologize to the American people for marketing alcoholic beverages to minors, and direct Dylan Mulvaney to remove any Anheuser-Busch content from his social media platforms.”

Besides offensively and repeatedly using male gender pronouns to refer to Mulvaney, the letter contains misinformation claiming Mulvaney's sponsorship somehow is targeting minors and thus violating alcohol laws (even though Mulvaney is 26 years old).

High-ranking Republicans seem to have seized upon the transgender rights issue as a new cynical rallying cry for its base. It is currently backfiring for Gov. Ron DeSantis, as Disney just withdrew a billion dollar development proposal in Florida. It remains to be seen how the Bud Light feud will play out for Sen. Cruz.

If Bud Light really wanted to cause a national uproar though, they would have put Ted Cruz's face on the can.