For almost 18 months, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been waging a heated battle against The Walt Disney Company. During that time, the Governor — who is now running for President — has worked with the state legislature to strip Walt Disney World Resort of its right to self-govern. DeSantis has also hand-picked a board to run the former Reedy Creek Special District. He has put the Disney World monorail under state control and threatened to build a prison next to the Resort. Due to all of the trouble with the Governor, Disney has canceled its $1 billion Lake Nona project. It is also suing the Governor for retaliation.
Governor DeSantis officially announced his presidential run in late May. Since then, his opponents have constantly used his fight with Disney against him. He has also been slammed for how much the battle with Disney is costing. So far, Florida taxpayers have more than $6 million, and it is only going up. However, the governor has said that he is “not backing down one inch” in the fight.
The governor has claimed victory against Disney more than once. However, a new poll shows that his “victory” against Disney may cost him his presidential bid. Navigator recently released polling results where they questioned people about their views on Governor DeSantis and their views on Disney. They polled Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. They also spoke to people of varying races, including white, black, Hispanic, and Asian Pacific Islanders.
The results showed that, while DeSantis has taken a big hit, Disney has remained relatively steady and still is seen in a favorable light by the majority.
Within every group polled, DeSantis was seen in an unfavorable light — except with Republicans. On the other hand, Disney increased in popularity across the board — again, except with Republicans. When the people being polled were asked who was in the right, Disney or DeSantis, every group said Disney was right. The exception was, once again, Republicans, who felt DeSantis was in the right.
In fact, Disney had a net gain of 67 points with Democrats and a 28-point gain with Independents. Every single racial group polled also felt that Disney was in the right and DeSantis was wrong.
Even though DeSantis has claimed to have beaten Disney, legal experts disagree. Disney is accusing DeSantis and the Florida legislature of retaliation. The governor and the state only started targeting Disney when they spoke out against the Parental Rights in Education Bill. DeSantis himself has admitted that Disney going against the bill was the catalyst for everything that has happened. With DeSantis practically admitting that he is attacking Disney because they spoke out, legally, it appears that Disney may have the slam dunk.
