Ron DeSantis Says His Battle With Disney Is Working

Ron DeSantis boasted Disney hasn't "made a peep" in opposition to his policies since "our skirmish last year," as his conflict with the entertainment giant continues.

The Florida Governor made the comments in a Newsmax interview with John Bachman, which was broadcast on Friday.

DeSantis is widely believed to be weighing up a possible presidential bid, with polling showing he is the second most popular candidate with Republican voters after Donald Trump. As such his clash with Disney, part of a wider campaign against "woke culture," could impact who is elected to the White House in 2024.

In his Newsmax interview, DeSantis said: "The big issue with Disney was they exercised a lot of political influence in this town.

"And they tried to fight us on things like parents' rights and things that are really important to the people of Florida. We beat them on that. We signed a parents' rights bill and we've expanded protections and we've done a lot of stuff to go back and fight woke ideology.

"Since our skirmish last year, Disney has not been involved in any of those issues. They have not made a peep. That ultimately is the most important – that Disney is not allowed to pervert the system to the detriment of Floridians."

Relations between DeSantis and Disney soured in March 2022, when then Disney CEO Bob Chapek publicly spoke out against the Florida governor's Parental Rights In Education bill, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by critics. Under its terms, teachers are banned from instructing children in school about "sexual orientation or gender identity," from kindergarten through third grade, though in April it was announced this will be extended to all school grades.

Following the intervention, DeSantis signed a bill ending the special status Disney enjoyed over the area around its Florida theme parks, which had meant they were largely self-governing.

Last month Disney announced it was suing DeSantis, along with other Florida officials. The corporation alleges it has been targeted by DeSantis in retaliation for opposing his LGBTQ+ policies, thus violating its First Amendment rights.

Speaking to Newsweek, Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of the LA-based West Coast Trial Lawyers, suggested the case could end up in the Supreme Court.

He said: "It is a very unique case. First, I've never seen anything like this, where a corporation is essentially self-governing, so that is extremely unique, but then you have a situation where the government is retaliating based on the corporation's arguably constitutionally protected speech.

"I've just never seen a First Amendment case play out like this. It's truly precedent setting. We're making new law here, so it's just impossible to know how this will play out.

"It's a tricky and thorny constitutional case that I wouldn't be surprised if it made its way to the Supreme Court in terms of the government retaliating for free speech."

Newsweek has contacted Disney's press team for comment by email.