The “DeSantis-Disney battle” continues, but a new challenger has entered the ring.
The Walt Disney Company sued Florida Governor Ron DeSantis this spring, alleging that the Republican presidential candidate retaliated against their protected free speech. Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against DeSantis’s Parental Rights in Education Act (“Don’t Say Gay”) in early 2022 after fans and Cast Members protested the company’s previous political donations to legislators that supported the law.
Despite Chapek’s sudden departure last November, recently-returned CEO Bob Iger maintains that the company did the right thing standing with the LGBTQIA+ community. He argued that DeSantis directly retaliated against the company by dissolving the Reedy Creek Improvement District at Walt Disney World Resort. Though the municipal status was a special privilege, the Disney Park is one of hundreds of organizations with similar legal setups in Florida.

As DeSantis scrambles to dismiss the lawsuit and move forward with his countersuit, Disney may have indirectly found a new ally in its fight. Vice President Kamala Harris visited Orlando on Tuesday for a speaking engagement but snubbed the Governor’s attempt to debate her view on the Black history curriculum in public schools.
Harris previously stated that DeSantis’ “Stop WOKE” campaign installed a curriculum that focused on “how slaves developed skills which… could be applied for their personal benefit.”
During her visit to Central Florida, Harris thanked generations of Black Americans for making the United States what it is today.

DeSantis argued that her refusal to debate was a “cover for their agenda of indoctrinating students.”
But some Floridians were happy to see a different viewpoint. United States Representative Darren Soto publicly thanked Harris for her visit:
Welcome to Orlando, @VP. We are honored to have you in Central Florida. Thanks for helping us deliver billions to improve our highways, airport, commuter rail, and high-speed internet, as well as speaking out against the state’s new teaching standards for Black history.
Welcome to Orlando, @VP. We are honored to have you in Central Florida.
Thanks for helping us deliver billions to improve our highways, airport, commuter rail, and high-speed internet, as well as speaking out against the state's new teaching standards for Black history. pic.twitter.com/vKtD4R1P3A
— Rep. Darren Soto (@RepDarrenSoto) August 1, 2023
Though Harris didn’t mention The Walt Disney Company during her recent trip, the House of Mouse has spoken positively of the Vice President. In this 2021 Disney Channel commercial spot, a teen artist painted a portrait of Harris as they discussed her journey to the White House:
Who should win the DeSantis-Disney battle? Share your thoughts with Inside the Magic in the comments.