GOP senators unsettled by DeSantis’s escalating fight with Disney 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s battle with Disney has gone too far in the view of some Republican lawmakers who are growing increasingly worried about preserving the GOP’s traditional reputation as a pro-business party focused on economic growth and job creation. 

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who served as Florida’s governor from 2011 to 2019, says it’s time for “cooler heads to prevail,” noting Disney is a major employer that draws in huge numbers of tourists who boost the state economy. 

Scott says the legislation DeSantis signed to prohibit classroom instruction about gender orientation to young children, which sparked the feud, “was a good bill,” but he stressed Disney’s importance to the state economy. 

“This is the biggest or second-biggest employer in the state. Half the tourism that comes to our state comes to visit Disney. It’s a reason people come to our state. After they come there, people move there. So I think cooler heads need to prevail. My view is we have to do everything to help our businesses grow,” Scott said in an interview.  

Sen. Marco Rubio (R), who has represented Florida in the Senate since 2011, told Fox News last month it’s “problematic” if state actions toward an individual or business appear driven more by politics. 

“I think where it gets problematic in the eyes of some people is when you start creating the idea — and I’m not saying we’re there yet as a state — but the idea that somehow if you run crossways with us politically, whoever’s in charge, then you may wind up in the crosshairs of the legislature for political purposes to make a statement at you,” he said. 

Rubio told The Hill more recently the Florida Legislature “has a right every year to revisit” the special status Disney enjoys within its special district, which gives the company control over roads, utilities, zoning, building codes, fire service and waste collection.  

But Rubio warned that “if it starts to be perceived that any corporate entity that’s operating directly or indirectly in furtherance of a political agenda that the powers that be don’t agree with, therefore we’re going to use the power of government to target you, you get concerned.” 

“If a Democratic [governor] and a Democratic Legislature takes over Florida, they’re going to go after Chick-fil-A?” he asked. 

DeSantis has come under new scrutiny and criticism because of his battle with Disney, the company most prominently associated with his home state.  

Former President Donald Trump, DeSantis’s likely rival for the presidential nomination, attacked the governor Thursday for “single-handedly” costing his home state a major investment. 

Trump predicted Disney may wind up changing course on plans to spend $17 billion on a separate investment into Disney World.  

“DeSanctus is being absolutely destroyed by Disney,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, using a derisive nickname for the Florida governor.

“His original P.R. plan fizzled, so now he’s going back with a new one in order to save face. Disney’s next move will be the announcement that no more money will be invested in Florida because of the Governor,” Trump wrote.

Other Republicans outside of Florida are expressing doubts about the DeSantis strategy with Disney.

“I think it’s a two-edged sword,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) of DeSantis’s moves to punish Disney for opposing the Parental Rights in Education Act last year.  

“If Disney were in North Carolina and I was Speaker of the [state]house, I probably would have addressed some of the concerns that DeSantis pointed out but would have gone about it a little bit differently,” he said.  

“Because then you get into this messaging war. Mickey Mouse is involved,” he said. “You need to explain what you’re doing, and it goes beyond just the cancel culture, woke narrative. 

“I just don’t think the public battle is helpful.” 

DeSantis’s bitter feud with Disney, one of Florida’s biggest employers, came back into the spotlight this past week when Disney announced it will cancel plans to build a $1 billion office complex in Orlando that was projected to bring 2,000 high-paying jobs to the area.  

The move comes after a board appointed by DeSantis with jurisdiction over Disney’s special district voted to sue Disney to invalidate the company’s oversight of municipal services and development in the area around Walt Disney World.  

Then on May 5, DeSantis signed a bill to give his handpicked allies the power to void all agreements their predecessors signed with Disney before stepping down from the Central Tourism Oversight District Board. 

Josh D’Amaro, Disney’s head of theme parks, explained in an email to employees that “changing business conditions” were behind the decision to cancel the new $1 billion office park in Florida. 

As recently as 2021, he praised the state for having “a business-friendly climate” when he launched the project, according to The New York Times. 

And while D’Amaro said the company still plans to move ahead with $17 billion in new construction at Disney World, he suggested those plans may change, too. 

“I hope we’re able to,” he wrote to employees.  

Florida’s long friendly relationship with Disney suddenly soured last year when then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek, under pressure from employees and LGBTQ advocates, expressed his “disappointment” to DeSantis over the governor’s support for the Parental Rights Education Act.

Critics refer derisively to the legislation as the “Don’t Say Gay” law.  

DeSantis took a shot at Disney in February when he signed into law a bill ending the company’s control of its special-tax district outside Orlando, proclaiming “there’s a new sheriff in town” and “the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end.”  

The company then outmaneuvered DeSantis while he was celebrating his apparent victory by signing 30-year zoning, infrastructure and other rights-related deals with the outgoing members of the board that oversees the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.  

DeSantis cried foul and sent a letter to Melinda Miguel, Florida’s chief inspector general, slamming the new agreements as “collusive and self-dealing” and instructing her to refer “any legal or ethical violations” to “the proper authorities.” 

At the same time, DeSantis’s newly appointed allies on the board hired lawyers to prepare to take Disney to court.  

Disney struck first by filing a lawsuit against DeSantis and the special district’s board on April 26, accusing them of orchestrating “a targeted campaign of government retaliation.”