Gov. Ron DeSantis may be among the leading Republican choices in 2024, but he’s still not as popular as Mickey Mouse.
That’s one takeaway from a fresh national poll tracking the popularity of the Florida Governor and the Walt Disney Company, at least.
A poll of 1,500 adult citizens from The Economist and YouGov conducted between Nov. 26 and Nov. 29 showed that while both DeSantis and Disney are above water in terms of net favorable numbers, the man supporters call “America’s Governor” still has a way to go to catch up with the entertainment giant.
Disney was regarded favorably by 55% of respondents and unfavorably by 36% of respondents, with an additional 9% saying they didn’t know. Meanwhile, 38% of respondents approved of DeSantis, with 35% disapproving, and an additional 26% not sure how they felt about him.
The split with registered voters was less pronounced, but still in Disney’s favor. A slim majority of registered voters (52%) approved of Disney, against 42% disapproval. DeSantis met with 46% approval and 40% disapproval from the same cohort.
DeSantis did prevail among self-identified conservatives. The Governor was +61 with them, with 73% approval and 12% disapproval. Disney was underwater with conservatives, meanwhile, with 37% approval and 59% disapproval.
Similarly, Disney was -30 with self-identified Donald Trump voters, while DeSantis was +68 with the same cohort.
The overall survey result tracks with previous polling demonstrating that as popular as DeSantis is on the Right, he’s not quite as popular as the company he targeted in the wake of its objections to the state’s Parental Rights in Education legislation passed earlier this year.
A May survey commissioned by NBC News and performed by Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies showed Disney outperforming DeSantis in overall popularity, with 33% for Disney and 28% for DeSantis, and in net favorability, where Disney was +3 and DeSantis +2.
Earlier this year, Florida lawmakers advanced two bills, SB 4C and SB 6C, which targeted Disney after the company said that it would work to repeal the parental rights legislation.
The former bill was intended to punish the company by stripping Disney of its self-governing status in the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a process that is still aspirational but slated to happen by June, 2023. Another bill removed a carve-out created for Disney exempting it from a law passed in 2021 targeting so-called Big Tech.
According to comments made to Tucker Carlson of Fox News, DeSantis doesn’t seem willing to consider changing the law back, even as Bob Iger resumed the CEO role recently and said he regretted the company being “dragged into” to the debate over the legislation.
“We didn’t drag them in, Tucker, they went in on their own,” DeSantis said Tuesday. “And not only opposed the bill. They threatened to get it repealed. These are parents’ rights … important policies in our state. They’re very popular.”
“So they brought this upon themselves,” DeSantis added. “All we did was stand up for what was right. And yes, they’re a big, powerful company, but you know what? We stand up for our folks and I don’t care what a Burbank-based California company says about our laws.”
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