Gov. Ron DeSantis’ avoidable fight with Disney hasn’t exactly paid political dividends for the Florida Republican. The governor’s culture war skirmish has cost his home state dearly; it’s made him the target of intra-party criticisms; and while DeSantis thought his presidential bid would benefit if he made fights against “woke” institutions a centerpiece of his political identity, GOP voters have other priorities.
The Floridian can’t even seem to defend his own tactics. When host Megyn Kelly asked DeSantis last month why Disney couldn’t simply disagree with him without being punished, the White House candidate denied that he’d punished the company — despite what actually happened.
It was against this backdrop that DeSantis sat down with CNBC this week and acted as if the fight he picked is behind him. The NBC affiliate in Miami reported:
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday said Walt Disney Parks and Resorts should drop a federal lawsuit that claims retaliation by the state and accept changes to a special district that long benefited the theme-park giant. In a CNBC interview focused on the economy, the Republican presidential candidate said the state has “basically moved on” from issues surrounding the changes to the former Reedy Creek Improvement District.
I’ve seen some suggestions this week that the governor’s rhetoric reflected his eagerness to back down under pressure, but I don’t think that’s quite right.
As part of the CNBC interview, what DeSantis tried to emphasize was his desire to see Disney drop its lawsuit. Asked what he’d tell Disney CEO Bob Iger if the two spoke, the governor said, “They’re suing the state of Florida. They’re going to lose that lawsuit. … So what I would say is, drop the lawsuit.”
To briefly recap for those just joining us, the governor last year signed a proposal critics have labeled the “Don’t Say Gay” policy, and Disney, a powerhouse in the Sunshine State, eventually criticized the anti-LGBTQ+ measure in an inconsequential press statement.
In a normal political environment, the governor might’ve defended his position and expressed his disagreement with the company, at which point the relevant players would’ve moved on. But in DeSantis Land, there’s nothing especially normal about politics: The far-right governor responded to the modest and inconsequential criticism by picking an ugly and prolonged fight with Disney — which included real consequences in terms of local governance — in part to punish the corporate giant for daring to disagree with him in public, and in part to send a signal to others that he’d retaliate against anyone who challenges his positions.
Disney filed a lawsuit challenging DeSantis’ willingness to use state government as a tool of political retaliation, and while the Republican expressed great confidence this week that the corporate giant is “going to lose” the case, there’s reason to believe otherwise — thanks in part to DeSantis’ own carelessness and inability to think a few moves ahead. And now he wants to put the unpleasantness behind him, leaving in place the retaliatory measures he’s already implemented. When DeSantis told CNBC that he and his team have “basically moved on” from their fight against Florida’s largest employer, the governor wasn’t backing down, so much as he was trying to argue that Disney should simply give up a lawsuit that might very well succeed. This wasn’t a concession; it was evidence of the governor’s fear that his administration could lose an important case, handing him another important defeat at an inopportune time. In effect, the struggling GOP candidate has publicly delivered a curious message to the company: “Now that I’ve finished hitting you, the important thing is that you stop trying to hit me back.”
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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