DeSantis Doubles Down On War With Disney After Cancelled $1B Project

Topline

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Friday there is “zero” chance the state will back down from its efforts to curb Disney’s power, taking a defiant stance in his first public comments after the company canceled a $1 billion office project in Florida amid a political war with the governor.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks after signing three education bills on the campus of New … [+] College of Florida in Sarasota, Fla. on Monday, May 15, 2023. (Photo by Thomas Simonetti for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The Washington Post via Getty Images

Key Facts

Disney on Thursday announced it was nixing plans to build a $1 billion office complex in Orange County, Florida, amid a ballooning feud with DeSantis and the state that began when Disney denounced the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.

DeSantis repeated his claim that allowing Disney to “govern themselves . . . is not good politics” or conducive to a “free market economy,” when asked by a state lawmaker in New Hampshire to respond to the news while he visited the critical early GOP primary state ahead of the expected launch of a 2024 presidential campaign.

“They can do whatever they want . . . the chance of us backing down from that is zero,” he added.

Chief Critics

DeSantis’ defensive stance comes as Florida’s Democratic lawmakers blast the governor over the scrapped development: Rep. Darren Soto, who represents the district where the project would have been, attributed the decision to “Gov. DeSantis’ failed Disney policies” in a tweet, while Rep. Maxwell Frost said the state is “suffering because of Governor Ron DeSantis’ inability to lead.” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings (D) also seemed to blame DeSantis in a statement that attributed the decision to the lack of “an inclusive and collaborative work environment between the state of Florida and the business community.”

Contra

DeSantis’ office blamed the decision on Disney’s “financial straits, falling market cap and declining stock price,” calling it “unsurprising” and claiming “the state was unsure whether [the project] would come to fruition” in a statement Thursday.

Key Background

Disney, citing “Florida’s business-friendly climate,” announced in 2021 it would relocate more than 1,000 employees from southern California to the new office complex as part of the project that was expected to bring 2,000 new jobs to the state. But the company’s rhetoric has since changed following DeSantis’ takeover of the board that controls its special district in the Orlando area and subsequent moves to restrict the company’s decision-making power. In March, Disney CEO Bob Iger called DeSantis “anti-business” and “anti-Florida,” and last week issued a veiled threat on an earnings-related conference call, telling analysts: “Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes, or not?” the New York Times reported. Disney sued the state last month in response to DeSantis’ various moves to curb its control over the special district, accusing him and his hand-picked board of a “targeted campaign of government retaliation.” Disney did not explicitly attribute its decision to pull the project due to its feud with DeSantis in an email to employees Thursday, in which Disney theme park and consumer products chairman Josh D’Amaro cited “considerable changes that have occurred since the announcement of this project, including new leadership and changing conditions.”

Tangent

Former President Donald Trump pounced on the news Thursday, accusing DeSantis of “single-handedly” losing the investment and costing the state thousands of jobs “because he was too weak to fight for his state.”

What To Watch For

DeSantis is reportedly planning to launch his widely anticipated presidential campaign next week, which would make him the sixth formal challenger to former President Donald Trump. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) also filed paperwork to run Friday.