The Wisconsin brewery that faced backlash for promising free beer on the day President Donald Trump dies has sparked fresh criticism by announcing a «half-price beer day» tied to the death of Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Minocqua Brewing Company said in an Instagram post Monday that it would sell beer at half price when McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and longtime senator, dies. The brewery argued that McConnell is responsible for «about half of all America’s current problems.» It also referenced McConnell’s prolonged absence from the Senate, referring to him as «Rigor Tortoise» and saying it expected news that he had died about two months ago.
The post went on to accuse Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, a Democrat, of failing to call a special election to fill McConnell’s seat before Aug. 3, meaning, under Kentucky law, the seat would remain unfilled until January. It said that when McConnell’s «Faustian dance has finally ended,» the brewery would begin serving beer at half price. It also promoted «half-price beer day» T-shirts and encouraged supporters to wear them when the event takes place.
The announcement is the latest twist in a running controversy for the northern Wisconsin brewery. In January, the company published a social media post that appeared to offer free beer to patrons if Trump were killed, without explicitly naming him. That earlier promotion prompted outrage. The brewery is also currently fighting to keep its liquor permit.
The permit battle stems from a separate dispute. State regulators moved to revoke the permit after authorities in June seized canned beer from the company, alleging it had been transported from Illinois without the required permits and taxes. The notice, reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, was sent to brewery owner Kirk Bangstad. Bangstad criticized the proposed action as excessive, saying the alleged tax violations did not warrant shutting down the business. The revocation had been scheduled to take effect Tuesday, but a spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Revenue said Minocqua Brewing Company has filed an administrative appeal, so the permit will not be revoked while the appeal is pending.
McConnell, 84, has not appeared in the Senate for more than a month after he was hospitalized for a fall at his home. Last week, Beshear publicly demanded that McConnell prove he is fit to continue serving or resign. «I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign,» Beshear wrote in a letter to McConnell.
The brewery said it chose the name «half-price beer day» because it blamed the senator for roughly half of the country’s problems, while its earlier «free beer day» offer remained reserved for «someone more special.»
Bangstad is also the founder of the Minocqua Brewing Company SuperPAC, which says its goal is to remove Republican federal and state officials it accuses of promoting election falsehoods that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and of downplaying the severity of the coronavirus pandemic.
The brewery, Beshear’s office and McConnell’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
