Majority of Americans not invested in feud between Disney, DeSantis: poll

A majority of Americans in a new poll say they’re not invested in the feud between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and entertainment giant Disney.

DeSantis has been feuding with the company since it pushed back against the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bars classroom instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity. The Walt Disney World theme park near Orlando is one of Florida’s largest private employers.

A Yahoo News-YouGov poll released Thursday found that just 34 percent of Americans say they’ve heard “a lot” about the disagreement. At the same time, just 28 percent of Americans say they’re on DeSantis’s side about Disney’s initial criticism and the governor’s response. 

More in the poll think the courts should rule in favor of Disney than say the same of DeSantis (42 percent to 32 percent), though slightly more said they thought Disney’s move to criticize the Florida law was inappropriate than said it was appropriate (42 percent to 39 percent).

Disney has sued DeSantis, alleging that the Florida governor has engaged in “a targeted campaign of government retaliation” and is harming the company’s business operations. DeSantis has argued that the suit has “no merit” and is politically motivated — and the back-and-forth has continued with new developments, such as a bill the governor signed to give an oversight board he appointed the power to cancel the company’s agreements.

Party divisions were still evident in the poll — as two-third of Democrats said Disney’s criticism was appropriate, while roughly the same share of Republicans said DeSantis’s response was appropriate. 

Conducted between May 5-8, the poll surveyed 1,584 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.