Rivals Ding DeSantis on Disney Dispute

Plus: Who will Wisconsin Republicans get to challenge Sen. Tammy Baldwin?

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gives a speech during the Jerusalem Post conference April 27, 2023. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Happy Monday! We hope you’re having a better day than the congressional intern who got dumped last week in a Senate elevator. Danny Jativa, a staffer for Sen. Tim Scott, witnessed the tragic scene: “People kept piling into the elevator as it stopped on every floor. The poor fella started breathing more heavy. We finally got to the basement where I exited so I could buy my much deserved Snapple.”

Up to Speed

  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spent last week on a “trade mission” representing his state with visits to Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, in what was widely seen as an attempt to boost his international profile ahead of a likely presidential bid. The trip generated photo-ops with leaders like South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, but also a new raft of unfortunate headlines for DeSantis. One businessman who met with the governor during a U.K. business summit told Politico “he was horrendous” and “his message wasn’t presidential.”
  • A super PAC aligned with former Vice President Mike Pence’s looming presidential campaign is set to launch in mid May, which Politico’s Adam Wren characterized as the “prelude to an official campaign that is betting heavily on performing well in Iowa.” Check out the Dispatch Podcast’s recent interview with Pence here.
  • West Virginia’s Republican Gov. Jim Justice officially announced on Thursday his campaign for Senate in 2024, for a seat currently held by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. The same day of Justice’s announcement, Manchin released a statement saying “I will win any race I enter,” fueling speculation that he might launch a third-party presidential campaign rather than run for reelection in West Virginia.
  • South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said on Sunday he will make a “major announcement” on May 22 in Charleston, teasing a long-anticipated bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
  • In a 5-2 ruling filed on Friday, the new GOP majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court overturned its earlier ruling that the state’s previously Republican-drawn congressional and state legislative maps were illegal gerrymanders, paving the way for the GOP-controlled general assembly to redraw the Tar Heel State’s congressional maps ahead of 2024. 

Will DeSantis’ Disney Fight Hurt Him?

Ron DeSantis has made his crusade against Disney’s “woke ideology” a signature issue, but some of his likely 2024 opponents see a chance to make it a political liability for the Florida governor.

Former President Donald Trump jeered that DeSantis “is being absolutely destroyed by Disney” and derided his anti-Mickey moves as “a political STUNT.” Last week, former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley followed suit, suggesting that Walt Disney World should move from Florida to South Carolina—a state that is “not woke, but we’re not sanctimonious about it either.”

But DeSantis hasn’t shied away from the Disney conflict, which he mines for applause in speeches and doubles down on at every chance while speaking to reporters. As he gears up for an expected White House run, DeSantis is betting Republican voters will reward him for his willingness to go after huge targets in a culture war between traditional values and progressive standards of corporate America.

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Comments (38)
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  1. Avatar photo
    Bel

    DeSantis could have responded to Disney by acknowledging it is free to express an opinion but that he and the FL legislature would not be bullied by a corporation and left it at that. He would still have an applause line for the primaries and he wouldn’t look like an obsessive authoritarian-ish goon which will hurt him in the general, if he makes it there.

    64% of Republicans agree on a lot of things that the rest of the electorate disagrees with or doesn’t care about. Showcasing random workers in a political ad is creepy. It’s goes beyond trying to intimidate a corporation into silence to trying to stoke fear in individuals for holding the wrong views.

    I know they face long odds, but I hope Asa or Tim Scott can get traction as normie conservatives. Or Haley. Although I will always distrust her after all of her flip flopping on Trump at least she’s not a creepy crazy weirdo

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  2. Avatar photo
    Pbanuski

    I really dislike Ron DeSantis and don't enjoy ever being in a position to defend him, but I feel like the "prison" comment has been unfairly characterized in the media. He was clearly making an off-the-cuff joke and not a serious policy proposal. It was a bad joke, a dumb joke, a complete misfire. But it was a joke, he didn't seriously propose building a prison.

    Perhaps a smart readership such as the Dispatch enjoys is well-informed enough to have seen the original clip and the context. But most people aren't, and so his political opponents and a lazy media frame it like it was a serious idea. Ron DeSantis has lots of truly horrible serious ideas. This was a horrible joke. I just wish we could focus our attention on the real policy proposals and actions he's taken. I don't need the prison to know he's a s***head.

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  3. Avatar photo
    Mattjabour

    "The Disney-DeSantis dustup, which began last year after the House of Mouse took a public stance against a Florida law banning “classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity” for young children"

    This is technically true, but it should be added that DeSantis modified this law after it passed, so that it applies to all grades, K-12. I feel like that fact could easily get lost in the shuffle.

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  4. Hpw1019

    Manchin/Sinema third party presidential campaigns? And where is Liz Cheney these days….keeping quiet.

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    1. Avatar photo
      OJFL

      She is teaching now at the Univesity of Virginia.

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    2. Edward Moffett

      The Trafalgar Group was humiliated in the 2022 midterms. However, they keep on polling.

      Last month, their polls had Liz Cheney in 3rd place.

      https://www.thetrafalgargroup.org/news/gop-ppp-0402/

      I suppose it is good for a laugh.

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  5. Avatar photo
    OJFL

    Nothing says "conservatism" more than wielding the power of the government to punish a company for an opinion. An opinion that was ignored by the voters and the politicians. Disney had lost the battle. The law they spoke against was passed and is popular. There was no reason to go after them the way Florida is doing. Senator Rubio, someone who disappointed me a lot, has it right at the end of the article. Who else will they fight for having the wrong opinion?

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  6. Diane Hansen

    Normally, I would side with the gov staying out of the private sector, but in the case of Disney I make an exception. Disney does have unprecedented level of self gov most corporations don’t have, and for all intents and purposes Disney stuck its nose in where it doesn’t belong, and invited a backlash. The usual suspects need not reply, progressive activists have carried woke too far.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Pat @ Tavi Hall

      1844 special districts in Florida. Unprecedented seems the wrong word to describe it.

      Further they really only control their own property and crime gets handed over to real jurisdictions. So mostly is the ability to not be restrained by a slow down in apptoving new building projects.

      And their woke crime? I'm always on the side of free speach. If the not woke can't make their case that's on them.

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    2. Avatar photo
      PJ

      LOL

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    3. Avatar photo
      OJFL

      But is it not the problem that Disney's "unprecedented level of self-governance" only became evident and seemingly a problem because Disney took a political position, Ms. Hansen? The Florida politicians are not shy about it.

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      1. Diane Hansen

        That’s true, which is why businesses with sweet deals shouldn’t involve themselves in social controversies, and keep their mouths shut. . At least 50 percent of this country does not agree with Disney’s position…..why jeopardize that sweet deal by rocking the boat?

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        1. Avatar photo
          OJFL

          But is that not the problem, Ms. Hansen, that corporations will have their speech suppressed for fear of government retaliation? Is that not the essence of the First Amendment when it comes to speech? As you said, companies need to keep their mouths shut. That is not right. You are correct that at least 50 percent of the people do not agree with Disney. But that is between them and Disney. Those people should not ask the government to punish a company for an opinion they do not share. Yes, Disney was wrong, but they lost the battle. The law they spoke against passed and is popular. There was no reason to retaliate against them for having the wrong opinion. That is way too dangerous.

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          1. Diane Hansen

            You have a problem with DeSantis removing Disney’s self gov deal, but how about Gavin Newsome foisting green energy boondoggle rules on the residents of CA……especially those who can I’ll afford it, and that includes more than the poor?? Do you have a problem with Joe Biden’s War on Fossil Fuels, or public universities refusing to host conservative speakers? Disney can still blow their mouth off, but they’ll have to do it without that self gov deal. The gov has been sticking their nose in the private sector way too long, but you’re only complaining now?

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    4. Avatar photo
      Pat Riot

      So fascism and undermining the Constitution is fine as long as it targets the people you don't like.

      Try to remember this when you try to tell people you hate the Democrats so much because they undermine the Constitution...

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  7. Avatar photo
    Bill Dyer (aka Beldar)

    Pence has no chance at all of winning the GOP nomination.

    But he could have a role to play in helping anti-Trump Republicans gather in sufficient numbers around whoever turns out to be Trump's strongest competitor — which may turn out to be someone other than DeSantis (and indeed I hope it does). His endorsement, if timed well (and certainly well ahead of Iowa), could matter a little bit.

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    1. Dan P.

      I agree. Though sadly, since his entire campaign (in the minds of him & his team) appears to hinge on Iowa, I don't see him dropping out before then.

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  8. Avatar photo
    Aaron

    Nice headline! Alliteration, but also rhythm.

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  9. Avatar photo
    DougAz

    I know your article just came out, contemporary with this new WAPO article on Senator Ben Cardin.
    Worth reading!

    A Scoop Jackson Democrat: "progressive on civil rights and economics and hawkish on the United States’ role in the world."
    He is also the rare politician who stood up to presidents of his own party on matters of principle. In fact, he did it three times in the past dozen years
    A foreign policy maven who defied Democratic presidents is retiring.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/01/ben-cardin-retire-senate-foreign-policy/

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    1. Avatar photo
      Murrayprof

      Scoop Jackson: The Senator from Boeing! I have described myself as sort of a Scoop Jackson Democrat on this board previously.

      And I totally appreciate Cardin's service.

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      1. Avatar photo
        DougAz

        I had not kept up with Cardin recently but we need more like him!

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        1. Edward Moffett

          "... progressive ... economics ... hawkish ..."

          We cannot afford "more like him."

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          1. Avatar photo
            DougAz

            Why not ?

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