DeSantis Knows Something About the Disney Feud the Rest of Us Don’t

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis picked a fight he thought he could win easily. Start a verbal war with the Walt Disney Company, and rather than have their business disrupted, Disney would simply fold. But he misjudged the Disney Company and its CEO, Bob Iger. And now both sides are dug in for a protracted legal battle.

When DeSantis started his feud, it seemed like a fool’s errand. Why would anyone fight with his state’s largest employer and a multi-national corporation? But Governor DeSantis dug in and went to work. He stripped Disney of its self-governing ability by removing the Reedy Creek Improvement District and replacing it with his hand-picked board, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Related: On the Day DeSantis 2024 Rumors Spread, Disney Kneecaps Him.

And then Disney embarrassed DeSantis by essentially stripping the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District of all its power before it was even seated. DeSantis doubled down and had the Florida Legislature void any deal Disney struck with Reedy Creek.

DeSantis was getting bombarded on all sides. His potential rivals for the Republican 2024 Presidential nomination attack him, including former President Donald Trump. Disney’s lawsuit seemed that it would end this entire saga. But then DeSantis doubled down by suing Disney right back.

But now, it seems Governor DeSantis knows something that we don’t know. Republican voters are on his side, especially those who will show up and vote in the primaries. A recent poll showed that 64 percent of Republican voters agreed with DeSantis and wanted to see Disney  “reeled in.”

University of Central Florida politics professor Aubrey Jewett told the BBC:

The glue that has traditionally held the Republican Party together was the free-market, conservative economic side. There now seems to be a significant number of Republicans who don’t subscribe to that anymore.

DeSantis has found that cultural issues and fighting large corporations, like the Walt Disney Company, is the best way to carve his spot in a crowded Republican primary. DeSantis is banking that the Republican party has moved away from its pro-business stance and cares more about “woke” issues and fighting culture wars with companies like Disney. And he is hoping that these issues will propel him to the presidential nomination.

But while his approach may work to get him the nomination, he may find this strategy lacking in the general election. In that same poll that found Republicans were firmly behind DeSantis, it also found that 82 percent of Democrats and more than 50 percent of independents are against him.

DeSantis is expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination within the next week. Depending on the poll, he is already trailing Trump by anywhere from 24 to 51 percent nationwide. So, his strategy may end up being all for naught. But the voters will decide the Florida Republican’s fate, and the courts will determine the future of his feud with Disney World.

We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.