Dylan Mulvaney gives Trump response after WHCD Bud Light jab
Dylan Mulvaney responded on TikTok after Donald Trump invoked her Bud Light backlash during his WHCD speech.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Dylan Mulvaney’s Trump response landed on TikTok after Donald Trump brought up her 2023 Bud Light partnership during Friday’s rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner, a moment Deadline reported drew little reaction in the room.
Mulvaney, a Broadway performer, TikTok creator and transgender advocate, said she was surprised to hear the president mention her years after the beer promotion that made her a target of conservative backlash. In her video, she said she counted Trump saying her name “four times.”
Before addressing Trump’s remarks directly, Mulvaney praised CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who was honored by the White House Correspondents’ Association with the Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure award. Mulvaney said she was honored to be compared with Collins in any way and hoped Collins would continue her work.
What did Trump say about Dylan Mulvaney?
According to Deadline, Trump used Collins’ award as a setup for a Bud Light joke, saying he had thought Collins had landed a major sponsorship before being told the person on the beer can was Mulvaney. Deadline reported the audience did not react.
Trump then said Mulvaney had cost Bud Light “$35 billion” in market cap and called the ad the “worst commercial ever made,” according to Deadline’s account of the speech. Deadline reported that the crowd remained quiet as he continued the bit and said he would not want to hire Mulvaney.
The Bud Light episode Trump referenced dates back to April 2023, when the beer brand sent Mulvaney a can featuring her face. Mulvaney showed it in a TikTok video, which prompted fierce conservative criticism and a boycott aimed at the brand, according to Deadline.
In her TikTok reply, Mulvaney pointed out that the Bud Light post was more than three years old. She said she had been keeping a lower public profile and focusing on musicals, singing and dancing, yet remained a subject for Trump and his supporters.
Mulvaney joked that she might be “the one that got away” for MAGA men and said she felt “permanently burned into their retinas” and “microchipped into their minds.”
Her response then turned more serious. Mulvaney said being mocked by the administration may be a compliment because, in her view, it places her alongside “brilliant, empathetic people.” She said Trump’s political side wants to limit her freedom, but that her freedom comes from accepting her authentic self and sharing that publicly.
Mulvaney also said officials do not want her to share that message because it could show young people that being themselves can come with success and freedom.
Deadline reported that Trump continued posting about political and media targets on Truth Social over the weekend, including AI-generated images. One post, according to Deadline, showed Collins’ face placed on Mulvaney’s body in the Bud Light video.
The exchange followed Trump’s hour-long WHCD speech, which Deadline characterized as rally-like and met at points with silence from the crowd.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.