Ron DeSantis will soon announce his candidacy for the 2024 US presidential election, perhaps next week. The governor of Florida would then officially be the third heavyweight in the competition, after his Republican counterpart Donald Trump, with whom he is now at odds, and Democratic incumbent Joe Biden. “Biden, Trump and I” should be taken seriously, he said in all modesty on Thursday in conversation with patrons, the New York Times listened – but only two of those would stand a chance of being elected, “Biden and I.”
Shortly thereafter, however, another opponent of DeSantis got serious: Disney.
One of the world’s best-known corporations is cutting $1 billion in investments in its state for the time being. That’s how much the Walt Disney Company wanted to spend on a campus in the middle of Florida, where 2,000 employees from Southern California were to work on new ideas, digitization and finance. Because of “changed business conditions” the plans are being abandoned, explained Josh D’Amaro, who manages the Disney parks. So because of Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis has long had an enmity with Disney, the group is too woke to him
The Republican and the group have been arguing for a long time. Under pressure from the workforce, Disney dared to criticize its right-wing campaign against everything that is left or woke in any way. For example, DeSantis banned teaching about sexual orientation in lower school classes – “don’t say gay”, the law is scoffed at by his opponents, “don’t say gay”. Disney expressed public displeasure, prompting DeSantis to withdraw decades of self-government from Disney World in Orlando. His Grace’s new supervisor also threatened to cash in on tax breaks.
In this way, he took on the largest amusement park in the world and the largest employer in his region, which employs 75,000 people. Disney sued the vendetta in court, saying it was targeted retaliation and a violation of the right to freedom of expression. Also at stake is $17 billion that should be invested in Walt Disney World for years to come. “Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people and pay more taxes or not?” asked Disney CEO Robert A. Iger.
In return, Disney is canceling an investment worth billions
For now, Disney has decided not to spend $1 billion on a project near Disney World. The reason for the plans in 2021 was the business-friendly climate in Florida. The reactions are to be expected. A DeSantis spokesman said it’s not surprising that Disney is restructuring given its financial troubles, declining market cap and falling share price. The company wants to cut thousands of jobs anyway and close the “Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser” resort, which opened just over a year ago.
“Disney, the door is open to bringing jobs back to California – the state that truly represents the values of your employees,” tweeted Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic Gov., with a picture of Mickey Mouse. DeSantis is “a job-killing git who cares more about his political ambitions and culture wars than Florida and our future,” said Orlando Democrat Anna Eskamani. “DeSantis is not who you want to be president, never.”
Donald Trump already has him in his sights: “Ron is not a winner”
Donald Trump sees it the same way. He once helped DeSantis, now 44, become governor before they fell out, which he likes to mention. “Ron is not a winner,” he said now, “he wouldn’t have won without me. If I had left him he would have lost by 30 points or more.” In Republican polls, Trump is currently far ahead of DeSantis. In turn, he pointed out in a phone call to donors that Trump had lost in 2020 and could be defeated again if he became the Republican candidate.
Primary elections will decide on this, the applicants are warming up. On Wednesday in Iowa, candidate Nikki Haley recalled Trump’s praise for the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021: “It was a nice day,” he said recently on CNN. “It wasn’t a nice day, it was a horrible day,” said former ally Haley. It should never happen again. Anyone who breaks the law must pay the price. DeSantis greeted her like this: “Welcome to the race, we’ve been waiting.”
Trump prefers to call his adversary “Desanctimonious”. His campaign platform Trump War Room on Twitter, 1.8 million followers, now discovered an extended pun in view of the duel with Disney: “Ron DeSanctimonious is caught in the mousetrap.”