Ron DeSantis Needs to Stop His Stupid War on Disney

Ron DeSantis Needs to Stop the Disney War: Republicans are sensing an opportunity to attack Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for his ongoing feud with Disney.

According to former President Donald Trump, who is expected to go head-to-head with Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Republican primary, DeSantis’s assault on Disney is a “political stunt.”

And according to other Republicans, DeSantis is “flouting traditional conservative values” when he attacks Disney – Florida’s largest private employer.

Republican pile-on DeSantis

Trump, the master of demeaning nicknames, took to Truth Social to criticize DeSantis’s attack on Disney. “DeSanctus is being absolutely destroyed by Disney,” Trump wrote, using his nickname for DeSantis.

Chris Christie, the former Governor of New Jersey, and former presidential candidate who is reportedly considering a 2024 run, also weighed in.

“I don’t think Ron DeSantis is conservative, based on actions towards Disney,” Christie said.

“Where are we headed here now that, if you express disagreement in this country, the government is now going to punish you? To me, that’s what I always thought liberals did, and now all of a sudden here we are participating in this with a Republican governor.”

What we see here is what happens when someone gets too big, too early – they become a target, inviting all kinds of criticism and negative attention, in a concerted effort to bring the early frontrunner back down to Earth.

Ron Loves His Political Stunts 

That’s not to say that the criticism aren’t legitimate. Ron DeSantis has made a name for himself by picking high-profile, national-level fights. Actually, the term Trump uses to describe DeSantis’s tactics, is the one I’ve been using for a few months now: “political stunts.” There’s the Disney thing. The ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill. There’s the fight Ron DeSantis picked over COVID restrictions (which actually had some merit).

And then there’s the Martha’s Vineyard thing – when DeSantis chartered a plane full of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, the stronghold of the coastal, Democratic elites. That was quite cruel and clearly a stunt – but also a spot-on critique of liberals who speak of harmony and acceptance and open borders, but then go hide on their yachts and private islands and in their prep schools.

Anyways, the growing criticism towards DeSantis “reflects a growing effort by Mr. Trump and other prospective candidates to try t undermine the core argument of Mr. DeSantis’s case for the nomination: that he is the Republican most likely to win a general election,” The New York Times reported.

The nature of the DeSantis-Disney feud

The feud is silly.

Last year, when Ron DeSantis signed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill into law, Disney criticized the legislation. DeSantis could have just let the criticism go – he’d gotten his legislative win and Disney was Florida’s largest corporate taxpayer – but instead, “DeSantis moved to exert greater control over the company through a district board.” 

Disney wiggled out from that move, however, when the company “quietly found a way to strip that board of power.”

Undeterred, DeSantis has tried to reassert control again, “and floated the possibilities of imposing new taxes on Disney – which would most likely be passed along to people using Disney’s park – as well as building a state prison nearby.”

 

Like I said, silly stuff – not worth the criticism now pouring in from Trump and Christie and everyone else who has reservations about DeSantis in the role of GOP nominee.

Just let it go, man.  

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Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.