Megyn Kelly claps back after she’s branded ‘transphobic’

News host Megyn Kelly hit back last night after she was branded ‘transphobic’ for calling on the CEO of Anheuser-Busch to apologise for Bud Light’s tie-up with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which has sparked a backlash from conservatives.

In angry comments on Sirius XM’s ‘The Megyn Kelly Show,’ the host had accused Mulvaney of making ‘a mockery of womanhood and girlhood’ and slammed the maker of Bud Light, telling it: ‘Screw you and your stupid empty platitudes.’

By promoting a trans woman who is ‘celebrated by far-lefties all across the country,’ Kelly said Anheuser-Busch had – in their own words – put themselves in the middle ‘of a discussion that divides people.’

Kelly faced a backlash for her comments, with critics saying she intentionally misgendered Mulvaney and came across as transphobic.

But in a tweet on Tuesday, the podcast host hit back, telling her 2.7 million followers on the platform that she is ‘speaking the truth’.

She wrote: ‘Call me whatever names you want. I am speaking the truth. And neither I nor the millions of other women (and men) who believe in biology/reality/fairness will be dissuaded by your attempts to marginalize us with words like ‘transphobic.”

The former Fox News host’s tweet has since gone vital, garnering over 5.5 million views and almost 50,000 ‘likes’.

Her message was in direct response to an article on The Wrap, which was itself reporting on her earlier comments made during a conversation with Michael Knowles of ‘The Daily Wire’ in which they joined a growing number of conservative Americans calling on Anheuser-Busch to apologise for the partnership.

The pair argued that a statement on Friday from Brendan Whitworth – the brewing giant’s CEO – was insufficient as it did not apologise directly for the campaign.

‘This person who’s on their beer can has made a mockery of womanhood and girlhood for literally the past year and has been celebrated by far-lefties all across the country,’ Kelly said to Knowles.

‘But to see what’s supposed to be a mainstream beer company do it was a bridge too far. That’s why they’re having the reaction they are.’

Knowles had said that by sponsoring Mulvaney, ‘Budweiser (also made by Anheuser-Busch) had insulted women, but by issuing this statement, they’ve insulted Americans.’

The single-post campaign on April 1 saw Mulvaney – a popular trans influencer – showcase a beer can with a picture of her face on it, which was sent to get by Bud Light to celebrate her one-year anniversary of transitioning.

Mulvaney has been documenting each day of the first year since her gender transition on TikTok, racking up more than 10 million followers.

The post also saw her announce a March Madness contest.

With Bud Light a popular beverage among conservatives in America, Whitworth appeared to back track on the perceived progressive partnership.

‘We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,’ he said in the statement posted by the CEO to Twitter. ‘We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.’

But Kelly was not happy with the statement.

She said it was it a ‘pathetic, rambling, empty-air sandwich of — I can’t even call it an apology — an attempt to dissuade people from hating his company and him.

‘It was an utter fail,’ Kelly declared.

She continued: ‘Screw you and your stupid empty platitudes. I read this, I’m like, “Oh, your little, market-tested buzzwords on what’s supposed to stir up our patriotism.” Too late, sir!

‘The buzzwords we we’re looking for: “I’m sorry. We screwed up.”‘

Bud Light’s promotional campaign initially backfired on Anheuser-Busch, with the brewing giant seeing $5 billion of its value wiped after the partnership was announced. It’s stock has since bounced back.

Several Republican figures have spoken out against Bud Light, although some rolled back their stance upon realising that Anheuser-Busch is a big donor to the Republican party and other conservative causes.

Those speaking out against Bud Light includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who revealed in a video that he doesn’t like the taste of Bud Light and prefers Guinness – and backs the ongoing boycott of the American beer brand.

Speaking on The Benny Show, DeSantis said: ‘Why would you want to drink Bud Light? I mean, like, honestly that’s like them rubbing our faces in it and it’s like these companies that do this, if they never have any response, they’re just going to keep doing it.

‘So, if you as a consumer are like … “Like, yeah, they’re doing that, but I’m just going to keep drinking anyways.” Well, then they’re going to keep doing it.’

DeSantis conceded he’d previously been snapped drinking regular Budweiser – but said it was hard to get in bars, and that he enjoys Ireland’s most famous drink more.

However, commentators were quick to point out that – according to Transparency USA (a website that tracks donations made by companies) – DeSantis and the Republican Party of Florida have received donations from Anheuser Busch.

The website shows that DeSantis recieved a donation of $50,000 from the company on February 24, 2022, with the Republican Party of Florida receiving the same amount from the company two weeks later in March 2022.

DeSantis’s stance also puts him at odds with Donald Trump Jr, who over the weekend called for an end to the boycott of Bud Light.

In a video message, Trump Jr emphasized the brewer’s conservative credentials, saying it was wrong to ‘blame the whole company for the inaction or the stupidity of someone in a marketing campaign that got woke as hell.’

He said he had researched Anheuser-Busch and saw they mainly donated to Republicans, and said his fellow conservatives sometimes had ‘the tendency of — shooting first and aiming second.’

Trump Jr. said that the decision to partner with Mulvaney was reportedly made by a low-level marketing employee, rather than the senior executives.

‘We looked into the political giving and lobbying history of Anheuser-Busch. And guess what? They actually support Republicans,’ said Trump Jr.

‘Last cycle their employees and their PAC gave about 60 percent to Republicans and 40 percent to Democrats. That’s literally almost unheard of in corporate America, where it’s really easy to go woke, where they do so constantly, where there’s a consequence to actually being a conservative. So 60 / 40 to the conservative side is kind of a big deal.’

It was also reported on Sunday that the National Republican Congressional Committee had quietly deleted a fundraising page taking aim at Anheuser-Busch.

‘Thanks to Dylan Mulvaney, we can all finally admit that Bud Light tastes like water,’ the NRCC said in a since-deleted tweet. ‘With our new koozie’s, you can make sure no one confuses Bud Light with real beer ever again.’

But the tweet was quietly deleted, likely on account of the company being a large doner to the Republican Party. In the 2022 election cycle alone, Anheuser-Busch and its employees gave the NRCC $464,505, according to the Daily Beast.

Nevertheless, a survey found that most Americans support the boycott of Anheuser-Busch over Bud Light’s tie-up with Mulvaney, and say big corporations give too much attention to trans people, a new poll shows.

A Rasmussen Reports survey of some 1,000 adults found that the brewing giant ‘stepped in a hornets’ nest’ by getting Mulvaney, 26, a controversial TikToker, to promote their low-calorie beer.