Caroline Downey of National Review Online reports on the Florida governor’s approach to a high-profile feud with one of his state’s most recognizable businesses.
Governor Ron DeSantis in his presidential-campaign-kickoff speech in Iowa Tuesday doubled down on his administration’s onslaught against Disney and blasted Republican critics who have argued that it was executive overreach and a violation of free-market principles.
“I’m not backing down one inch,” DeSantis said in Iowa, which hosts the GOP first-in-the-nation caucus in the 2024 nomination process. “We run the state of Florida. They do not run the state of Florida. We stand for the protection of our children. We will fight those who seek to rob them of their innocence and on that there will be no compromise.”
DeSantis noted that some Republicans in the state legislature have protested his decision to crackdown on Disney, which started a war with the governor last year in publicly denouncing the state’s new Parental Rights in Education bill. The bill prohibits the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools to students in kindergarten through third grade. Opponents dubiously dubbed it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The state board of education this April expanded the bill to include grades four through 12, unless required by existing state standards or as part of sex-ed curricula that students can opt out of.
Retaliating against Disney’s activism, DeSantis signed a bill stripping the corporation of its 56-year-old “independent special district” status, which had granted it the privilege of creating its own regulations, building codes, and other municipal services. Lawmakers later decided against dissolving the district, but voted instead to give the governor the authority to install the district’s board members, our Ryan Mills previously reported. However, before the DeSantis-appointed board assumed control in March, the Disney-controlled board handed control of the district’s development over to Disney.
