On Wednesday, POLITICO reported that Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) refused to back up Gov. Ron DeSantis over his threats to revoke special protections in law for the Walt Disney Corporation, in retaliation for their criticism of the "Don't Say Gay" law recently passed in Florida.
"Scott said he supports the legislation and complained during a lengthy television interview on Bloomberg Television and also on Twitter about 'woke companies' such as Disney, which also came under fire for not taking a stance on the bill until Florida lawmakers approved it," reported Gary Fineout. "But the former two-term governor sidestepped a question on whether Florida legislators should repeal a half-century state law that created a special district for the theme park that allows it to essentially establish its own independent government. DeSantis previously said he’d be 'receptive' to making changes to that law."
"My experience with Disney had been positive," Scott told POLITICO.
The law in question is the Reedy Creek Improvement Act of 1967, which basically allowed Disney to operate the public services in the area that would become the Walt Disney World resort complex. Prior to Disney taking over the land, it was considered uninhabitable.
For years, reporting has suggested that Scott and DeSantis have a hostile and adversarial relationship, with both seeing the other in conflict with their own presidential ambitions. In 2019, Scott even left DeSantis' inauguration speech early, prompting him to ad lib out the parts of his speech in which he would have thanked Scott for his service as governor.
