On Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dismissed Disney’s lawsuit against him as politically motivated and said the iconic company should stop receiving privileged treatment in his state.
Disney sued DeSantis on Wednesday over the Republican’s selection of a board of supervisors in its self-governed theme park district, citing a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” for opposing “Don’t Say Gay.”
The legal filing is the latest in a more than-year-old spat between Disney and DeSantis
They’re upset because they have to follow everyone else’s rules. “They don’t want to pay the same taxes as everybody else and they want to control things without proper oversight,” DeSantis stated in Israel. “Florida no longer elevates one company without accountability.”
DeSantis was on the third round of an international trip to boost his foreign policy credentials ahead of a possible Republican presidential run against former President Donald Trump.
As business leaders and White House opponents have criticized DeSantis’s stance as a rejection of small-government conservatism, he has jumped into the Disney dispute, a major tourism and employment engine in Florida.
Disney publicly opposed “Don’t Say Gay,” a state law banning early-grade classroom discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity.
DeSantis took over Disney World’s self-governing area and created a new board of supervisors to manage municipal services in the huge theme parks. Before the new board took office, the corporation forced through an 11th-hour arrangement that limited their power.
Disney’s complaint seeks a federal judge to overturn the governor’s seizure of the theme park district and the DeSantis oversight board’s actions as free speech violations.
DeSantis outlined his Middle East policy at a symposium at Jerusalem’s Museum of Tolerance, emphasizing the U.S.-Israel partnership.
He said Israel was the only authority that could safeguard freedom of worship for all in combustible Jerusalem and that the Trump administration correctly transferred the embassy there despite Palestinian resistance.
He continued to oppose the Iran nuclear deal, saying it emboldened the country’s leaders. Obama’s Iran nuclear deal passed. Trump rescinded it.
DeSantis also criticized President Joe Biden for his concerns over an Israeli government plan to restructure the courts.
DeSantis visited South Korea after Japan. Britain follows Israel.