Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has chosen his next culture wars target: Anheuser-Busch InBev, the parent company of Bud Light.
DeSantis has urged the agency that manages Florida’s pension fund to launch an investigation into Bud Light’s parent company, following the conservative backlash against the brand for entering into a minor marketing partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. A right-wing boycott against Bud Light sent its parent company’s stock price plummeting from $66 to $58.
“As you well know, AB InBev’s performance has plummeted since its decision to associate its Bud Light brand with radical social ideologies,” DeSantis wrote in a letter to the state board. “This fateful decision has turned the former top-selling beer in the United States – and one of InBev’s most successful assets – into a commercial pariah.”
The Florida governor also urged the head of the state’s board of directors to consider legal action against Bud Light and its parent company.
“It appears to me that AB InBev may have breached its legal obligations to its shareholders and that shareholder action may be both appropriate and necessary,” DeSantis wrote. “To protect SBA and Florida retirees from losses attributable to AB InBev’s failure to meet these obligations, all options are on the table.
DeSantis discussed his newly launched campaign against AB InBev in a Thursday interview with Fox News and suggested the state could bring a “derivative suit” against the company.
“When you start pursuing a political agenda at the expense of your shareholders that doesn’t just affect the very wealthy people, it affects the hard-working people who were police officers, firefighters and teachers, pension-wise,” DeSantis said.
USA TODAY has contacted AB InBev for comment.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ron DeSantis calls for investigation into parent company of Bud Light