Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ retaliatory war on Disney escalated further on Monday, when he signed a bill that strips the company of its special self-governing status in Florida. Disney’s self-governed district in central Florida, which has allowed the company for decades to raise taxes and issue bonds in the area to maintain and build infrastructure for the Walt Disney World Resort, was always a weird arrangement. But DeSantis’ attack on it was not inspired, as he’s suggested, by a meaningful agenda to rein in corporate power. It was instead an attempt to punish Disney for daring to speak out against his homophobic policies and to bully the company into complying with his crusade against so-called wokeness.
DeSantis’ policy can be seen as a new spin on former President Donald Trump’s tendency to whimsically accost corporations on Twitter during his presidency. This time, though, it’s not about harassing companies for building factories abroad, but about trying to stigmatize them for daring to dissent from a politician’s reactionary political project. It’s not particularly effective, but it’s cotton candy for the Republican base.
He’s angling to make his war with Disney a distinguishing feature of his personal brand of populism as he gears up for a widely anticipated 2024 White House bid.
The fight between DeSantis and Disney began last year when Disney’s CEO at the time, Bob Chapek, criticized DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which was designed to restrict discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, as a “challenge to basic human rights.” Incensed, DeSantis first responded by slamming Disney for having too much power in the state and inviting lawmakers to dissolve Disney’s special self-governing district. After that policy raised some complicated logistical and fiscal questions, he pivoted strategies — and now he’s signed a bill that lets him take the district over and appoint the members of its…
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