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Credit: Inside the MagicIf you thought that Ron DeSantis was done attacking Disney World just because the lawyers set down their pens and his board of supervisors signed off on a $17 billion deal, you weren’t at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee yesterday.
DeSantis Battles Disney, Makes Nice
For the better part of a year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and The Walt Disney Company fought an extended battle across the federal, state, and public opinion courts.
While the Mouse House has gained a reputation for being the “wokest company in America” in recent years due to their extremely mild attempts to acknowledge the existence of LGBTQIA+ people and occasionally having a person of color lead a streaming Star Wars show, Disney has largely been an apolitical entity in Florida.
At least, it may seem that way. Due to the massive economic power of the Walt Disney World Resort, which draws millions of tourists (and billions of dollars) to Florida every year, the Mouse has had tremendous influence over public policy in the state for decades. This extended to the company controlling its own tax district around Disney World, the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which it administered as the de facto local government for decades.
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All of this went out the window when former Disney CEO Bob Chapek came out against the Parental Rights in Education Act (better known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law), the controversial law restricting discussion of gender and sexual topics in schools. Since it was signed, it has since been defanged by a settlement with LGBTQIA+ activist groups after the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals indicated it would not support the law.
However, its effects on the relationship between DeSantis and Disney have lasted far longer. In retaliation for Disney expressing a political stance, the governor dissolved Reedy Creek and replaced it with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD). The CFTOD is administered by a board of DeSantis appointees and is widely perceived as acting as his proxy in Disney World matters.
Multiple lawsuits between Disney World and DeSantis and his CFTOD board were filed and many accusations of incompetence and cronyism were thrown around until a settlement was abruptly reached. Governor DeSantis and The Walt Disney Company are now officially lawsuit-free and, in fact, have managed to work cooperatively on a massive, $17 billion expansion of Magic Kingdom that may or may not involve a new theme land to the already massive complex.
Despite all that, Governor Ron DeSantis just cannot seem to keep Disney’s name out of his mouth, figuratively speaking. The former presidential candidate is currently attending the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he is supporting his former rival (and former president) Donald Trump.
DeSantis at the Republic National Convention
At a panel sponsored by Moms for Liberty, DeSantis unexpectedly renewed his antagonism toward Walt Disney World, perhaps thinking that fleeing Florida for Wisconsin would allow him to take potshots at the Mouse (per The Tallahassee Democrat).
DeSantis kicked off his anti-Disney rant by claiming that his retaliation against the company was an act of courage, saying, “Over the years, so many Republicans, any time some big bad corporation opposes what they want to do, they cower in the corner like little scared kitties. So we said no, we’re going to lead the state of Florida. We’re not going to subcontract leadership to a woke corporation based in Burbank, California.”
He went on to claim that he had “won” the battle over the Parental Rights in Education Act, continuing, “We won that battle with the parents’ rights bill.” In a very typical move, now that a settlement has been signed, Mr. DeSantis seems to be comfortable acting as though he had won a battle.
The governor furthered his claim that he had the better of Disney World, saying, “We also won the battle eliminating all the corporate welfare that they had, and the result is now, they want to build all these new parks, and they’re going to end up paying us a lot more money than they would have before.”
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It is unclear what “corporate welfare” DeSantis is referring to, but otherwise, it seems certain that the far-right politician is referring to the massive new expansion plans that Walt Disney World has for the Orlando area. At least when he is speaking at the RNC, DeSantis seems to want to frame the billions of dollars that Disney will infuse into Florida and the thousands of jobs it will create as a punishment for the company rather than a benefit for citizens.
The New York Times described the deal as the “ability to build a fifth theme park, add three small parks, expand retail and office space and build 14,000 hotel rooms, for a resort total of nearly 54,000.”
Not that long ago, a representative for DeSantis said, “Disney and the state of Florida continue working well together under C.F.T.O.D.’s new governance structure,” and Disney World president Jeff Vahle called the deal a step toward “the growth of this global destination, fueling the Florida economy.” Apparently, that is only the case when DeSantis doesn’t have Moms for Liberty to show off to.
Do you think DeSantis is trying to start another Disney feud or just boasting?