After months of legal warfare with the Walt Disney Company, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) claimed to have “moved on” from the squabble.
CNBC previewed an interview DeSantis gave to CNBC’s Last Call anchor Brian Sullivan, and the governor was questioned on his feud with the company that happens to be one of the largest economic drivers in his state. After claiming that “no one has made Disney more money recently than me,” DeSantis was asked why doesn’t he get on the phone with Disney CEO Bob Iger.
He answered by imploring Disney to end its lawsuit against him and other state officials:
Look, my wife and I, we got married at Walt Disney World. And so it’s not like we’re opposed. I mean, we’ve appreciated working with them over the years, but I would just say, go back to what you did well. I think it’s going to be the right business decision, and all that.
But where we are today, you know, we basically moved on. They’re suing the state of Florida, they’re going to lose that lawsuit. So what I would say is drop the lawsuit…
This is a great place to do business. Your competitors all do very well here, Universal, SeaWorld. They have not had the same special privileges as you have. So all we want to do is treat everybody the same, and let’s move forward. I’m totally fine with that. But I’m not fine with giving extraordinary privileges, you know, to one special company at the exclusion of everybody else.
Let’s recap:
The feud between DeSantis and Disney started last year when the company objected to DeSantis’ signing of the Parental Rights in Education Law (derisively referred to by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill), which forbids schools from discussing certain LGBTQ-related topics with younger children. DeSantis retaliated by pushing through a bill that stripped Disney of the ability to appoint the board of its special taxing district and mounting a number of punitive actions and threats against the company. (And contrary to DeSantis’ assertion that the district was an “extraordinary privilege,” there are over 1,800 special taxing districts in Florida, including several at The Villages. Only Disney’s was targeted by the governor.)
DeSantis’ vindicitveness toward Disney hasn’t helped him make headway in the 2024 presidential race, nor has his lean into culture wars and the hard-right. Meanwhile, Disney is suing him with accusations of government retaliation to punish the company’s speech.
Watch above via CNBC.
