Social media users mocked four Democratic lawmakers for a photo in which they posed with bottles of Bud Light, an apparent nod to the controversial brand which recently partnered with self-identified transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) shared a photo of himself and Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) enjoying Bud Light in response to a Daily Beast article asserting that the National Republican Congressional Committee backed away from a campaign against Bud Light since the brand’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, donated to Republican candidates in the midterm elections.

https://t.co/CHIAyL8n2Y pic.twitter.com/jpJUgXpNlc

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) April 16, 2023

Takano infamously failed to answer the question “What Is a Woman?” when Daily Wire host Matt Walsh interviewed him for the blockbuster documentary bearing the same name. The interview ended prematurely when Takano floundered in the face of basic inquiries about human biology and Walsh was abruptly whisked out of the lawmaker’s office.

Conservatives and other social media commenters continued to enjoy the last laugh over the Democrats’ recent nod to Bud Light. The image depicts the four grinning lawmakers looking toward one another awkwardly with the Bud Light logo clearly visible to the camera.

“Out on the town having the time of my life with a bunch of friends,” Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro remarked. “They’re all just out of frame, laughing too.”

“This is Bud Light’s new target market. Take notes,” comedian Tim Young said. “This photo is more damaging to the brand than Dylan Mulvaney in the bathtub,” podcast host Gerry Callahan added. “You guys drinking on the job helps us all understand your behavior a bit more,” activist and former congressional candidate Robby Starbuck commented.

Lieu later doubled down on the post by claiming that his intent was to castigate his political rivals. “I mock stupid stuff by MAGA Republicans,” he said. “Data shows that mockery is one of the more effective ways to get people to stop supporting extremists.”

Bud Light has been reeling for weeks after the partnership with Mulvaney, a biological male who featured his transition to female on TikTok and subsequently landed countless brand deals with leading companies. Share prices for Anheuser-Busch InBev took a considerable hit after the partnership went public: the firm was worth $132 billion on March 31, the day before the partnership was revealed, and plummeted to $113 billion as of April 17.

Sales for draft beer products produced by Anheuser-Busch fell as much as 50% in the immediate aftermath of the campaign as drinkers chose alternative brews. Distributors and prominent bars across the country reported that consumer interest in Bud Light has plummeted as consumers reacted to the company’s partnership with Mulvaney.

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, transgenderism, or 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.”

Shapiro responded to the statement by observing that Whitworth addressed “zero of the problems with hiring a man cosplaying as a woman to sell cheap beer to a predominantly male audience.” The damage control indeed seems to have failed: public derision of Bud Light from conservatives has endured in the days since the statement was released, with country music star Brantley Gilbert smashing a can of the brew to the ground at a concert over the weekend.

The White House and senior Democratic lawmakers rebuked House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) after his speech about the debt ceiling and efforts from House Republicans to curb spending.

The debt ceiling, a policy established by Congress that prevents the federal government from spending beyond the predetermined national debt limit of $31.4 trillion, surpassed the threshold earlier this year. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned lawmakers that she was forced to implement “extraordinary measures” to fund federal agencies until early June, after which the government will default on obligations unless lawmakers suspend or raise the debt limit.

McCarthy said in remarks delivered on Monday morning that House Republicans would vote “in the coming weeks” on a bill to lift the debt ceiling into next year. He repeatedly asserted that President Joe Biden has been unwilling to negotiate on possible debt limit and spending deals after the two officials met in early February.

“The longer President Biden waits to be sensible, to find agreement, the more likely it becomes that his administration will bumble into the first default in our nation’s history,” McCarthy said at the New York Stock Exchange. “Let me be clear: a no-strings-attached debt limit increase cannot pass. But since the President continues to hide, House Republicans will take action.”

The framework mentioned by McCarthy would return expenditures to fiscal year 2022 levels and limit annual spending growth to 1% over the next decade. White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates countered in a statement that McCarthy is “engaging in dangerous economic hostage taking” and “breaking with the bipartisan norm” he followed under former President Donald Trump. “He again failed to clearly outline what House Republicans are proposing and will vote on, even as he referenced a vague, extreme MAGA wish list,” Bates added.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) likewise dismissed the speech from McCarthy. “Democrats want to avoid defaulting on our country’s debts,” he asserted. “Meanwhile, Speaker McCarthy continues to bumble us toward a catastrophic default that would cause the economy to crash, spike job loss, and raise costs for American families.”

Bates appears to have referenced the spending plan recently offered by members of the House Freedom Caucus, a bloc of conservative Republican lawmakers who said they would consider voting to raise the debt ceiling contingent upon acceptance of their framework. The White House, on the other hand, unveiled a budget proposal last month that would increase expenditures from $5.8 trillion to $6.9 trillion over the next fiscal year while reducing deficits by $3 trillion over the next decade through several tax hikes on businesses and wealthy individuals.

“In his unserious budget proposal, President Biden wants to spend more this year than the government did during the height of the pandemic,” McCarthy said in response to the White House framework. “Just think about that. House Republicans believe the opposite should happen: before we borrow another dime, we owe it to our children to save money everywhere.”

Business leaders and government officials have warned that a national debt default would likely cause a worldwide financial crisis. Republicans have countered that the national debt, which now approaches $31.7 trillion, constitutes a long-term and unsustainable risk to the country.