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Credit: Inside the MagicIn a recent appearance on a conservative podcast, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis gave his analysis on why Walt Disney World attendance has dropped.
Credit: Disney Parks Blog
Related: DeSantis Claims Most Disney Cast Members Agree with “Don’t Say Gay” Law
The feud between the Walt Disney Company and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is well-documented. After the former Disney CEO spoke out against DeSantis’ controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill, the Governor has been gunning for them. This includes multiple lawsuits, restrictions, and direct verbal attacks against Walt Disney World.
Naturally, this has continued as Ron DeSantis has focused more on his presidential campaign, going so far as to make attacking Disney’s “woke agenda” a central part of his platform. And he has continued his assault on the House of Mouse by declaring that the dwindling attendance at Disney Parks is due to the company forcing “woke” ideologies into their Parks and movies.
DeSantis: Parents Don’t Want an “Agenda Shoved Down Their Throats”
Related: DeSantis Is More Popular Than Disney Now, Poll Says
In an appearance on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, the hosts asked Governor Ron DeSantis a question: “Do you think Disney is getting ‘Bud Light-ed’ by many people out there? … From a business perspective, it feels to me like Disney has gone woke, and Bob Iger is now paying the consequences. Do you see it that way?”
The Governor answered affirmatively, “Well, I’ll tell you, as parents of six, five, and three-year-old kids, my wife and I really believe that parents should be able to send their kids to school and watch cartoons without having an agenda shoved down their throats. That’s why we stood up to Disney with respect to our Parent’s Rights in Education bill. And I think that it is impacting parents’ willingness to want to take their kids to the Disney stuff.”
Presidential Candidate @RonDeSantis on woke Disney's woes in in talk with @ClayTravis and @BuckSexton.
Watch the full interview here: https://t.co/cOCYshlLNe pic.twitter.com/AcRZgYAOwp
— The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show (@clayandbuck) July 10, 2023
DeSantis continued, “My advice would just be, look what made Disney kind of the all-American company under Walt and beyond was a focus on family, a focus on, you know, traditional pro-American values… It is ultimately to the detriment of the company. It’s in the best interests of Disney shareholders that they get refocused on their previous core mission and get the woke out of there.”
While this has been a tune DeSantis has been singing since the beginning, his argument seems off base. Disney movies have always been about accepting others, no matter how different from you they are. On top of this, most of Disney’s financial issues can be blamed on poor marketing for the films and exorbitant pricing for the Parks. Maybe that’s what the Walt Disney Company needs to look at first.
Do you think Disney’s lower attendance is due to its “woke agenda?” Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!