DeSantis Gives Bizarre Disney Interview, Says He’s Saving America

If you ask Florida Governor Ron DeSantis what is keeping America from chaos, it’s apparently one thing: his ongoing feud with the Walt Disney Company.

Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney World Resort in Central Florida have been in a heated legal and political battle since March when the now-former chief executive officer of the company, Bob Chapek, came out against the controversial Parental Rights in Education Act, often known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Parental Rights in Education Act

Disney hosted a town hall for employees on the act and later paused contributions to political groups in Florida while calling for the act to be repealed. This came at a time when the company was being heavily criticized both for including LGBTQIA+ characters in films and for deleting them for international markets like China.

According to the Disney v. DeSantis lawsuit, the governor responded with intense political retaliation. He dissolved the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the special tax area in which Walt Disney World is located, replacing it with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, complete with a board of directors selected by himself.

Related: Corruption Accusations? DeSantis Board in Hot Seat Following Alarming Discovery

Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board

To date, one DeSantis appointee to the Central Florida board was forced to step down as chairman of Florida’s ethics commission in order to retain his lucrative new position. The board has also been dogged by accusations of inside dealing and no-bid contracts, despite the governor’s public statement that removing Disney from power in the former Reedy Creek would ensure no more no-bid contracts.

Another DeSantis appointee was discovered to have led seminars teaching fake United States history about slavery. Currently, the board is under instructions by a judge to provide discovery materials after Disney accused it of ducking its legal responsibilities in a separate legal case.

DeSantis: “We Won the Battle against Disney”

Despite that legal setback (not to mention his flagging presidential campaign), Governor Ron DeSantis is insistent that not only is he winning his feud with Disney, but that it is actually causing America to refocus on moral points.

In a recent interview with Family Leader President and CEO Bob Vander Plaats, DeSantis claimed, “A lot of these old guard Republicans were telling me that somehow Disney, when they call the shots, you just got to bend the knee…we fought back against Disney, we had a big battle with them, and we won the battle against Disney.”

Related: DeSantis Disney Board to Massively Raise Prices on Taxpayers

DeSantis continued, “I’ll tell you the fact that we were willing to stand up to [Disney], that had reverberations across this country. I think you do have some CEOs that they’re not necessarily bought into this agenda…[T]hey can say, well gee, I don’t want to end up like Disney people may fight back from the [political] right now. So I think we helped kind of refocus business and America in a better way. I think it was going off the rails.”

It is not exactly clear how the Florida governor feels that he has “won” against Disney, considering he has pending lawsuits in both state and federal courts. It is also curious how he thinks it has helped the country on a macro level, but, much like Disney and the Parental Rights in Education Act, he has a First Amendment-protected right to state his opinion on the matter.

Has the DeSantis-Disney feud helped America, and if so, how? Give us your thoughts in the comments below!

This post is originally appeared on Inside the Magic.