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Credit: Inside the MagicDays after Inside the Magic reported that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis would make a surprise appearance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, the former presidential candidate addressed the crowd. His audience included former President Donald Trump.
The news about DeSantis came as fans worried that The Walt Disney Company planned to leave Florida despite promising billions of dollars in investments. CEO Bob Iger previously threatened DeSantis with fleeing the state after he took control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, appointing board members to what he called the Central Flordia Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD).
Walt Disney World Resort controlled the municipal area from 1967 until 2023. In 2022, DeSantis legally dissolved the district shortly after former Disney CEO Bob Chapek condemned the Parental Rights in Education Act. LGBTQIA+ Disney supporters and cast members protested the law, which the public dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.”
Disney tried to sue Governor DeSantis for retaliating against its First Amendment right to free speech, but a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in January. Iger vowed to fight back but recently resumed political donations and Florida and promised Walt Disney World Resort expansions.
DeSantis dropped out of the Republican presidential primary around the same time and endorsed Trump. He firmly supported the former president during his speech at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night.
“My fellow Republicans, let’s send Joe Biden back to his basement, and let’s send Donald Trump back to the White House!” DeSantis began.
After cheering died down, the former Republican presidential candidate vowed that Trump would make life in the United States “more affordable.”
Price increases are just as visible at Walt Disney World Resort as anywhere else. Though DeSantis didn’t mention the Central Florida Disney park, fans have long theorized that the increasing cost of living spurred recent low crowd levels.
“Life was more affordable when Donald Trump was president,” Governor DeSantis said. “Our border was safer under the Trump administration and our country was respected when Donald Trump was our commander in chief.”
Trump and his vice presidential running mate, J.D. Vance, applauded.
Later in his speech, DeSantis echoed “anti-woke” rhetoric that he previously hurled against The Walt Disney Company.
“[Biden] is just a tool for imposing a leftist agenda on the American people,” the Florida governor said. “…They use the unelected bureaucracy to impose their will on us without our consent… [They want to] impose gender ideology on everyone from our infantrymen to kindergarteners…They can’t even define what a woman is.”
DeSantis attacked diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, such as the “inclusion” key that The Walt Disney Company incorporated into its values after the Black Lives Matter movement protests in 2020.
“They stand for DEI, which really means division, exclusion, and indoctrination, and it is wrong,” he declared.
Gov. DeSantis later slammed COVID-19 vaccine mandates, like those imposed when Walt Disney World Resort re-opened in 2020. The CFTOD later banned any COVID-19 restrictions in the area.
DeSantis also spoke on “parents’ rights” to intervene in public school education, echoing his comments during the “Don’t Say Gay” fiasco. He applauded Florida as a haven for Republicans.
“The woke mind virus is dead, and Florida is a solid Republican state,” DeSantis said. “Now, electing Donald Trump gives us the chance to do this all across America, and we have a responsibility to step up and make it happen.”
Who won the battle between The Walt Disney Company and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis? Share your thoughts with Inside the Magic in the comments.