DeSantis in Spotlight as Disney Pulls $1B Investment From Florida

Ron DeSantis has come under fire, including from fellow conservatives, after Disney announced on Thursday it had canceled plans to build a new $1 billion campus in Orlando, which would have brought 2,000 new jobs to the state.

The Florida governor has been locked in a bitter battle with Disney since its president criticized his Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by critics. DeSantis stripped the corporation of the largely self-governing status it enjoyed around its parks, while Disney launched legal action against the governor, arguing he is undermining its First Amendment right to free speech.

Polling indicates DeSantis is the second most popular possible 2024 GOP presidential candidate with Republican voters, following Donald Trump, though he has slipped significantly in the past couple of months. Thus the Florida governor's ongoing conflict with Disney could help determine who occupies the White House from January 2025 onwards. However, DeSantis has not yet announced if he plans to run for president.

Disney announced it was pulling its new $1 billion Orlando complex on Thursday, with Walt Disney World Resort President Jeff Vahle attributing this to "several dynamics," in a statement directed at community leaders. He claimed these included "a change in company leadership and evolving economic and business conditions."

Bob Chapek, Disney's previous CEO, angered some of the company's staff by initially declining to condemn DeSantis's Parental Rights in Education bill, which bans schools from teaching about "sexual orientation and gender identity" up until a certain grade.

Chapek later apologized to employees and condemned the bill publicly in March 2022, sparking the current spat with DeSantis.

In November 2022, he was replaced as CEO by Bob Iger, who took an assertive stance against DeSantis, initially frustrating the Florida governor's bid to strip Disney of its special status before new legislation was brought in. Under Iger's watch, it was confirmed that Disney will host the "largest LGBTQ+ conference in the world" later this year. In addition, the entertainment giant sued DeSantis, claiming it suffered a "targeted campaign of government retaliation" after opposing his education bill, The New York Times reported.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a Republican, said Thursday on NewsNation's The Hill that it "looks like" the decision had been made to pull the complex in response to DeSantis's "personal vendetta" against Disney, which has "cost the state now potentially 2,000 jobs in a billion-dollar investment."

Fox News commentator Dagen McDowell also criticized the governor following Disney's announcement, stating: "Ron DeSantis does not have an economic plan as of yet, and today Disney just pulled a $1 billion investment out of Florida."

The Lincoln Project, a group founded by anti-Trump conservative operatives in 2019, also criticized the move on its official Twitter account.

"What's saddest about this Disney news? DeSantis and his cowardly MAGA cultist FL legislators that spurred this entire situation will be fine either way. It's the hard-working Floridians that they used as pawns in their fake culture war that'll feel the brunt of this for decades," the group wrote.

Keith Boykin, a political commentator and former aid to former President Bill Clinton, added: "Ron DeSantis puts the 'L' in Florida."

Former Trump White House aide Alyssa Farah Griffin, a self-described conservative who appears on ABC's The View, criticized DeSantis for creating an "uncertain business environment."

However, Dave Rubin, the registered Republican who hosts The Rubin Report, hit back at Griffin in a message to his 1.4 million Twitter followers.

"What makes you a conservative or a Republican other than it pays well to pretend to be one to be on The View? DeSantis took special rights away from Disney. He got rid of crony capitalism," he tweeted.

When approached for comment by Newsweek Bryan Griffin, DeSantis's press secretary, sent over a tweet he posted on Thursday, responding to a New York Times article about the $1 billion development being scrapped.

The tweet read: "This consistent 'poor @Disney" framing is the media running PR for a gigantic, multinational corporation that is fighting to keep special privileges & circumvent legislative action. It's unreal—and speaks directly to the times we live in. @GovRonDeSantis is right in this fight."

Update 5/19/23 9:36 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with comment from Bryan Griffin, Governor DeSantis's press secretary.