Florida Governor Ron DeSantis clearly isn’t finished with his feud with The Walt Disney Company that began earlier this year when the controversial “Parental Rights in Education” bill, which many opponents have called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill due to it prohibiting teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms.
In a town hall meeting held earlier this week, CEO Bob Iger briefly mentioned Florida’s continued feud with Disney stating, “I was sorry to see us dragged into that battle, and I have no idea what exactly its ramifications are in terms of the business itself. What I can say is the state of Florida has been important to us for a long time and we have been very important to the state of Florida.”
DeSantis appeared on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight and sent a tweet out with a clip from the show where he responded to Iger’s comments.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) November 30, 2022
We didn’t drag them in … they went in on their own. And not only opposed the bill, they threatened to get it repealed. These are parents’ rights, important policies in our state that are very popular. They brought this on themselves — all we did was stand up for what is right. Yes, they are a big, powerful company, but … we stand up for our folks and I don’t care what a Burbank, California-based company says about our laws.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
You might recall that earlier this year, Florida lawmakers passed and DeSantis signed off on a bill that would dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District, ultimately stripping Disney of its right to govern itself. Many still feel that the school bill’s opposition may have led to the dissolution bill, but it’s still unclear at this point what will ultimately happen with it come July 1, 2023, when all six independent special improvement districts in the state of Florida are set to be dissolved.