Why is Ron DeSantis so determined to keep taking on Disney?
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ war with Disney has some fellow Republicans questioning why he’s spending so much time battling Florida’s biggest name in its tourism industry.
The yearlong squabble keeps growing as the governor’s presidential poll numbers plummet, and critics say he didn’t react quickly enough to massive flooding and ensuing gasoline shortages in South Florida.
DeSantis may be in too deep to stop, said Gregory Koger, a professor of political science at the University of Miami.
“It’s hard for him to back out,” Koger said. “It’s in his book as something that he’s very proud of doing. And to fail at this, having picked this very public fight would really weaken his brand.”
DeSantis has made his dispute with Disney a core part of his political identity. In his new book, he devoted a chapter to “The Magic Kingdom of Woke Corporatism.”
DeSantis recounted how he got married at Disney World but grew disillusioned with the corporation as it moved “beyond mere virtue signaling to liberal activists.”
Koger said DeSantis is sending a message to all companies in the state.
“One of the things he wanted to demonstrate was that in DeSantis’ Florida, businesses must accept the social agenda of the Republican Party, and if anyone speaks out they will be punished,” Koger said. “... And it’s important to him to actually follow through, and make sure [Disney] actually ends up suffering for their exercise of free speech.”
The image of DeSantis victorious over Disney is also what an independent group supporting him for president is boasting about to GOP voters.
In a new flyer being sent out to important primary states by the pro-DeSantis political committee Never Back Down, according to Axios, a cartoon of DeSantis wearing boxing gloves looms over a white-haired man lying knocked out on the ground. The figure could be considered to represent President Joe Biden before one notices the mouse nose and whiskers wrapped around his face with a string.
‘Florida is being laughed at’
Randy Ross, the Orange County chair of the Donald Trump campaign in 2016 and a Trump supporter again this year, said the Disney feud was taking a toll.
“DeSantis is taking it too far, in an effort to try to illustrate that he can be Superman for Florida,” Ross said. “Florida is being laughed at. You can turn on any program, and it’s one of the top news stories and it’s not necessarily in a good way.”
Increasingly, DeSantis’ potential Republican presidential rivals are criticizing the governor’s actions, saying they are at odds with conservative principles of limited government.
“Sometimes in politics, you just have to admit when you screwed up and you got taken,” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said in an interview with Semafor. “It happens. It’s hard to admit it because it happens to you on a public stage. Everybody gets to see your mistake, but if you’re not used to that, then don’t get in this business.”
DeSantis’ feud with Disney started when the entertainment giant opposed the Parental Rights in Education law, known by critics as “don’t say gay.” That legislation limited classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.
DeSantis accused Disney of being a “woke corporation.” Disney announced it would halt its political contributions in Florida and pledged to work to get the law overturned.
DeSantis and his Republican allies then escalated the battle by taking aim at the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which had overseen Disney World’s government services since the 1960s.
Vowing to end Disney’s “special privileges,” they passed a law to put the district under state control, and Disney responded by reaching a development agreement meant to undo that law. So now the Legislature is considering a new law to maintain Florida’s power over the district.
During a news conference on Monday, DeSantis talked about how he wanted the state to take over safety inspections for rides and monorails at Disney World, or potentially sell off the company’s utilities.
But then he said he might consider building a state prison near Disney World, a comment that made national headlines and became fodder for cartoonists and comedians.
“I think the intent was to threaten Disney, to make Disney wonder about what range of counter moves and retaliatory actions the governor might have in store for them,” Koger said. “But it just came off as openly retaliatory, [as if] we’re beyond the question of what’s the best public policy for the economy and citizens of the state of Florida.”
Trump said the governor was trying “to save face” after being embarrassed.
“Disney’s next move will be the announcement that no more money will be invested in Florida because of the Governor,” Trump warned on his social media site.
As all this was happening, a Wall Street Journal poll released Friday was just the latest to show DeSantis quickly losing ground to Trump in a prospective 2024 primary battle.
The poll showed DeSantis’ 14-point lead over Trump among likely GOP primary voters in December had nosedived into a 13-point lead for Trump. It comes as many Republicans rally around Trump after his 34-count indictment in New York accusing him of falsifying business records.
Trump lines up endorsements
In the days since DeSantis’ Disney press conference, the dam has also burst on congressional endorsements from Florida Republicans.
Eleven members of Congress joined Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach on Thursday night for a gathering of his supporters, including U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, R-St. Augustine Beach, a seat DeSantis once held.
U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, who endorsed Trump, echoed what has become a familiar complaint about DeSantis, telling Politico that the governor has never reached out to talk to him during his five years in Congress. Steube also said DeSantis never called after he badly injured himself falling off a ladder at home in January.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio also told Semafor he hasn’t spoken to DeSantis in months. The senator, who said he was not ready to endorse yet, has been vocal on Twitter on how “they still can’t figure out how to get enough gasoline to South Florida” in the wake of last week’s floods, without saying who “they” are.
DeSantis said at his Monday event that his crusade was backed by Floridians because of his landslide reelection in November.
“This is something that the voters understood,” DeSantis said. “We won big. And you know, we did better in Central Florida [than] Republicans [had] done in a long time, including areas that have a lot of employees at Disney, like Osceola County. ... At the end of the day, we made the decision as a state, as a people, through the medium of our elections.”
In a statement, DeSantis spokesman Bryan Griffin said Disney had attempted to “subvert the will of the people of Florida, and Gov. DeSantis will not stand for that.”
“Good and limited government (and, indeed, principled conservatism) reduces special privilege, encourages an even playing field for businesses, and upholds the will of the people,” Griffin said. “Gov. DeSantis is the champion of the people of Florida.”
Ross, the Orange County GOP leader, said DeSantis’ problem is that he isn’t listening to what Florida Republicans actually want.
“He’s got all the gatekeepers, he’s very good at keeping everybody away,” Ross said. “He comes out and makes a statement, and the doors close, and there’s not really an opportunity to question him. But if I had five minutes with him, I would remind him he’s not Trump. And he never will be.”
