A Massachusetts mayor has taken a pledge of sobriety — at least when it comes to Samuel Adams brews — after the beer company’s co-founder Jim Koch praised President Trump for his contentious tax cuts.
No more Winter Lager.
No more Summer Ale.
No more Rebel Grapefruit IPA — sigh.
It all started when Koch, co-founder and chairman of the Boston Beer Co., which produces Samuel Adams, met with the president.
The Boston Business Journal reported that Koch and a dozen other corporate executives joined Trump for dinner Aug. 7 at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., to talk about their businesses and the larger economy — and, during the meal, Koch expressed his appreciation for the Republican tax cuts that, he said, will help his own business.
“I’m Jim Koch, and I started making Sam Adams beer in my kitchen 37 years ago,” he said, according to a transcript from the White House.
“When I started Sam Adams,” Koch added, “American beer was a joke and it p‑‑‑‑d me off. And now, American brewers make the best beer in the world. And the tax reform was a very big deal for all of us, because 85 percent of the beer made in the United States is owned by foreign companies.”
“That’s right,” Trump said.
Koch: “I mean, Americans — I’m the largest American-owned brewery at 2 percent market share. We were paying 38 percent taxes —”
Trump: “Wow. But you’ve done a great job. Great job.”
Koch: “— and competing against people who were paying 20. And now we have a level playing field.”
Then Trump said: “Yeah. That’s good. We’ve done that. That was a very unfair situation. That’s right. Good job. That’s a really good job.”
When Somerville’s mayor got wind of Koch’s remarks, he got all hopped-up and threatened to boycott the business executive’s beer.
“We need to hold these complicit profiteers of Trump’s white nationalist agenda accountable,” he tweeted.
Then he addressed Koch:
Hey Jim Koch! While you were thanking Trump for your tax break, did you happen to express any concern for the families separated under his cruel and inhumane immigration enforcement policy? @SamuelAdamsBeer https://t.co/UCywb9I7xE
— Joseph A. Curtatone (@JoeCurtatone) August 12, 2018
Boston Beer and the mayor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
However, the Internet had plenty to say — and some of it was comical.
Though some people on social media supported Curtatone, many were more critical of the mayor’s stance.
Never, ever!
— American For Truth & the Constitutional Republic (@Luc1DThr1ve) August 14, 2018
Take that @SamuelAdamsBeer !
You showed them Mayor pic.twitter.com/DGB0LIttRo
