Florida editor explains why DeSantis is going to lose his war against Disney
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) was looking for a fight, and he certainly found one when he went after Disney for being too accepting and compassionate about all children and those young at heart.
According to Sun Sentinel opinion editor Steve Bousquet, DeSantis' attack on "The Mouse" has slowly begun to disturb residents.
"It's beginning to — it's going to hurt Ron DeSantis because you can't think of a corporate entity in Florida with a more wholesome image than Disney," said Bousquet. "In addition, you know, Ron DeSantis' M.O. in his four years as governor — I've been watching him every day of his administration — is to basically bully people into submission, and he's been very effective at that. Here's a case where Disney, a big, powerful, respected institution, is pushing back forcefully. And this lawsuit they filed in federal court in Tallahassee is partly on First Amendment grounds, and it's partly on the impairment of contracts. They've got contracts to run the entertainment universe down there in Orlando. And so finally, I think people who have had concerns about the way DeSantis is running the state are — they're gratified to see somebody really push back strongly against this governor."
CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer called the battle a "quagmire" for DeSantis before he even announces he's running for president.
"I think in terms of how people perceive him, he keeps shifting further and further to the right, looking more like a culture warrior than a coalition builder," said Zelizer. "It doesn't look like he's very successful, and he's met a match in his own home state, a match that has this wholesome image but is also a powerhouse of the economy of Florida. And finally, even with explanations like that, it looks like a governor who's really strong-arming a business because of what they said. And I think all of this is just not sitting well, and you see it in his poll numbers. You see how the former President Donald Trump's poll numbers are rising, and this is not how you start a presidential campaign."
Bousquet went on to say that he thinks that the Disney lawsuit will ultimately be successful because, as Disney puts it in the case, "the government cannot punish you for speaking your mind."
The other piece is that there is a long paper trail for DeSantis in which he demonstrated he was retaliating against the company because of the company's politics. That violates the company's freedom of speech.
"This is going to cost taxpayers dearly in the state of Florida," he also noted.
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