Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to justify his moves to check the power of The Walt Disney Company, dismissing criticism from the Right that he went too far.
During an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” the Florida Governor again defended his decision to check Disney’s privileges in the wake of the company’s objections to the state’s Parental Rights in Education law, framing it in conservative terms.
“Is it free market economics to have a corporation run its own government and be exempt from laws and be treated better than all its competitors? Of course not. That’s corporate welfare,” DeSantis contended.
He continued by framing his battle as a David versus Goliath of sorts.
“This was something that had really been embedded in Florida’s DNA because Disney was so powerful for many, many decades, nobody even questioned this, and basically Disney ran the show in this state for a long time until I became Governor,” DeSantis said.
“And we said, you know, we’re going to side with the people of Florida. We’re not going to kowtow to a woke company based in Burbank, California, but make no mistake about it … we have a more competitive market today than we did when they were operating their own government, enjoying those special privileges.”
The comments come after DeSantis on Monday named five new board members to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, the new name for the reconstituted Reedy Creek Improvement District that governed Disney since 1967 and allowed the theme park to expand and drive growth in the Orlando area for decades. That new board includes donors and politically connected players.
Potential 2024 opponents have criticized DeSantis for overstepping the boundaries of a purportedly conservative Governor.
Former Vice President Mike Pence pilloried DeSantis last week.
“I have concerns about the follow on,” Pence said. “Disney stepped into the fray, they lost, but then the taxing authority — that was beyond the scope of what I, as a conservative, limited-government Republican, would be prepared to do.”
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu lumped DeSantis in with “big-government conservatives,” saying moves like the Disney diss set the “worst precedent in the world.”
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan also said last year that the fight with Disney was “crazy.”
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