Ron DeSantis swears he didn't start the fight with Disney
Speaking to conservative streaming network "OutKick" Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) brought up his feud with Disney World – and placed the blame squarely on the mouse's shoulders.
"There is this idea that you have somehow picked the fight with Disney," said host Clay Travis.
"No!" DeSantis exclaimed.
"And I want to emphasize this for our audience," Travis continued. "You opened, and fought to get Disney World open like a year before Gavin Newsome was willing to open Disneyland."
The "fight" with Disney began when the company required its on-site employees that come into contact with the public to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the summer of 2021. It was at a time that Republicans were fighting against vaccines and especially opposed mandates on vaccines.
The battle stepped up a notch in the 2022 legislative session when the state's far-right legislature moved to ban any conversation about LGBTQ people or topics in schools. Disney came out against the policy – known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill – urging lawmakers to reject it.
For expressing their opposition, DeSantis went on the attack against Disney, targeting tax breaks the company gets, targeting their police and fire services, and then threatening to build a prison by the park.
Disney has filed a lawsuit in federal court saying there is a “targeted campaign of government retaliation — orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech,” which “now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.”
DeSantis has asked that the lawsuit take place after the 2024 election.
The fight has reportedly had little impact on visitor numbers to the park.
DeSantis went on to describe how he got married at Disney World – a decision that has prompted mockery now that they're embroiled in the fight.
"And the thing was, I was still in the Navy, in — I was in northeast Florida, and I thought we would end up doing [unintelligible] beach because, you know, whatever," said DeSantis.
"And she came to me, my wife came to me and she was like, what do you think about Disney? I was like, what do you mean, what do I think about Disney? She was like, for the wedding. I was like, do they do weddings? Like you can do like Cinderella's Castle? She's like, no they have a chapel. And it's actually very nice. Her parents were big Disney people. So, they suggested it, and that's what they wanted to do. So we did it."
He said that he drew a line that there wouldn't be characters at the wedding and that it was very traditional in the church on the property.
See the full interview in the video below at the 44 minute mark. Or you can click the link here.
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