A.G. Gancarski
The most powerful Republican in Congress is speaking out against Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ war with The Walt Disney Co., which includes threats of a prison near Disney World.
On CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California urged DeSantis to find a productive solution, specifically mentioning the Governor’s prison threat as unhelpful.
“This is a big employer inside Florida,” he added, in comments reported by Newsweek.
“I think the Governor should sit down with them. I don’t think the idea of building a prison next to a place where you bring your family is the best idea. I think it’d be much better if you sat down and solved the problems,” McCarthy continued.
Earlier this month, when discussing new legislation to wrestle control back from Disney, the Florida Governor suggested the state had every right to do what it wanted on land in the former Reedy Creek Improvement District, now known as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
“People are like, well, ‘What should we do with this land? Maybe create a state park? Maybe try to do more amusement parks,’” DeSantis said before adding the prison quip. “Somebody even said, ‘Maybe you need another state prison?’ Who knows? I just think that the possibilities are endless, and so that is now going to be analyzed to see what would make the most sense.”
The Governor has been compelled to address the issue on his current international trip.
“That arrangement was not good for the state of Florida. We did not think that should continue. “So, we now have brought accountability. And so, the idea that somehow being pro-business means giving companies their own governments, that is not what a free market is all about,” DeSantis said in Jerusalem Thursday.
The Disney/DeSantis beef is in federal court, with the company seeking legal recourse for the state’s moves to invalidate its development deal struck in the final days of the Reedy Creek Improvement District that governed the park’s business from 1967 until this year. The company calls it a “targeted campaign of government retaliation.”
Criticisms of the Governor’s overreach come even from in-state allies.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is raising concerns about a potentially “problematic” precedent set “the idea that somehow like if you run crossways with us politically, whoever is in charge, then you know, you wind up in the crosshairs of the Legislature for political purposes.”
3 comments
Pill Mill Bill McClure
April 28, 2023 at 9:55 am
Too late to sit down with them.. now DeSantis will be sued. Tax payer will have to pay for his political stunts as usual. All the right wing police state and religious legislation was the cherry on top of the cake. Soon, he will be out of office..dye his hair blue and move to The Villages.
Michael K
April 28, 2023 at 10:17 am
Turns out America does not like radical right wing authoritarians after all. DeSantis is all white grievance and vengeance, and can barely formulate a sentence without the word “woke.” Just another spiteful, power-hungry opportunist whose 15 minutes of fame is fading fast. Meanwhile, we are all left with the wreckage of his destructive tantrums, and we have the legal bills to prove it.
Ron DeSantis wears High Heels
April 28, 2023 at 10:52 am
Nope. Disney has had enough, and now they’re going to drag DeSantis out into the public and beat the crap out of him while the nation watches.
Did anybody actually sit down with DeSantis and demonstrate how going to war with the biggest media empire on the planet was a terrible idea? They could have even used crayons so he would better understand.
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