Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis promised the start of “round two” next week in the “fireworks” with the Walt Disney Company.
During an address at the Butler County Lincoln Day Dinner in southwest Ohio on April 13, DeSantis said, “They’re fighting us on this. The media’s acting like Disney getting out from under ... no, it’s not going to happen.
“We’ll have news on that next week, so stay tuned. There will be round two in terms of those fireworks.”
In February, DeSantis stripped Disney’s self-governing status in Florida after the company publicly opposed HB 1557, a law officially known as the Parental Rights in Education Act.
Florida legislators created the Reedy Creek Improvement District in 1967. Covering two counties and 25,000 acres, the district provided Disney with wide-ranging authority to manage actions on the company’s property.
Reedy Creek levied taxes and controls roads, water, and electric systems among other powers in a 38.5-square-mile area spanning four theme parks, two water parks, more than 40,000 hotel rooms, multiple restaurants, and retail stores.
The Florida State Legislature established the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and on April 19, Resolution No. 639 is slated to be introduced.
That measure would provide the new board with authority over “reviewing, processing, evaluating, commenting on and approving, approving with conditions or denying applications for development orders throughout the district—including within the jurisdictional limits of City of Lake Buena Vista and the City of Bay Lake.”
Earlier this year, Disney passed measures restricting the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board’s power.
“There will be additional legislative action taken in Tallahassee that will nullify what they tried to do at the 11th hour and then potentially arm the board with the ability to make sure that this is run appropriately,” DeSantis said.
Speaking in Ohio
DeSantis spoke at a Lincoln Day breakfast event in the Akron area before traveling around four hours to West Chester in Butler County, a Republican stronghold that resoundingly voted for former President Donald Trump (61 percent) in the 2020 presidential election.DeSantis highlighted Florida’s achievement under his leadership, and how Republicans in Florida won every statewide office race in 2022 for the first time since the Civil War.
He spoke about his opposition to Critical Race Theory and gender ideology in schools.
DeSantis said he and the Florida GOP “never, ever surrender to the woke mob; our state is where woke comes to die.”
“We reject things like Critical Race Theory that teaches kids to hate our country and to hate each other,” DeSantis said.
“It’s wrong for schools to teach kids that they were born in the wrong body or that they can change their gender. Gender ideology has no place in our school system.
“And I don’t care if Disney doesn’t like it, I’m doing what’s right for my people, and they can take a hike,” DeSantis added to enthusiastic applause.
Following his speech, DeSantis invited his wife, Casey DeSantis, to join him on stage. Casey DeSantis was raised in Troy, Ohio, which is located around 20 miles north of Dayton.
The DeSantises described the story of how they met, and where they were married—Disney World.
“That was pre-woke era of Disney,” Ron DeSantis said with a smile.
“Her idea, not mine,” he added with a grin, joking that he didn’t want Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse showing up at his wedding ceremony.
Disney was not the only topic DeSantis covered at the event. He touted a list of Florida’s accomplishments achieved during his time as governor.
DeSantis Speaks of Florida’s Successes
DeSantis added that Florida is the top-ranked state for education freedom and parental involvement in education and—“We have no state income tax. You all should try that sometime. It’s pretty good.”Florida has the second lowest tax burden per capita in the country, the nation’s second lowest debt burden per capita in the United States, and the largest budget surplus in the history of the state of Florida—a $23 billion surplus out of the $109 billion budget, DeSantis said.
“I’m proud that when COVID reared its ugly head when the world seemingly lost its mind, and when common sense suddenly became an uncommon virtue, the state of Florida stood strong as a refuge of sanity as a citadel of freedom—not only for our citizens but for other Americans and even for people around the world,” he continued.
“We refused to let our state descend into some type of ‘Faucian’ dystopia where people’s livelihoods were destroyed,” he added.
“We proudly chose freedom over Fauci, and we would not have enjoyed the success we have unless we had made those very unpopular, very difficult, but correct choices.”
DeSantis has yet to officially declare his candidacy to run for president in 2024, but in early March, he visited Iowa, where a caucus kicks off the Republican presidential primary.
He also has trips scheduled to New Hampshire and South Carolina. He is promoting his book, “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.”
“If the Democrats are able to sweep these elections, retain the White House, take back the House, add a couple of seats in the Senate, they are not going to be pursuing an agenda that’s as American as apple pie,” he said.
“They’re gonna try to pack the U.S. Supreme Court. They’re going to try to abolish the Electoral College. They’re going to try to make Washington DC a state, giving them to radical Democrat senators virtually for life. And they are going to try to impose ballot harvesting across this country and eliminate all state voter ID laws,” DeSantis alleged.
“That is not an agenda that’s going to appeal to American families sitting over their kitchen table, wondering what they’re going to do with inflation. Or crime or education.
“No, that is an agenda that is seeking to make the conservatives second-class citizens. They want us not to have power to be able to fight back against their agenda.”
DeSantis talked about how he won the gubernatorial election “by 32,000 votes out of more than 8 million votes cast” in 2018 and then “we won by over 1.5 million votes” in November 2022.
The results from last November’s gubernatorial election show that “boldness is rewarded,” DeSantis believes.
“I believe most Americans think the country’s going in the wrong direction. Most are pessimistic about the future. But I’m here to tell you what we’ve shown in Florida is that decline is a choice,” DeSantis said. “Success is attainable, and freedom is worth fighting for.”
Around 1,000 people attended the Butler County Lincoln Day Dinner. Some conservatives expressed curiosity about DeSantis but reiterated their support for Trump.
Others said that they believe the country needs to move on from Biden and from Trump, and that DeSantis is the ideal candidate.
Trump’s Legal Issues
“Donald Trump has appealed to a little group of people who are further to the right whereas Ron DeSantis really appeals to the moderate and the right,” said John Spencer Mandzak, a member of the Miami (Ohio) University Young Republicans.Trump’s legal issues, Mandzak believes, will “push more and more people away from him.”
Mandzak, who is 20, said that he thinks DeSantis will enter the 2024 presidential race, and “I think he has a very good chance to win” if he runs.
“He’s obviously testing the grounds,” Mandzak said. “ I think he specifically came to Butler County to see what the turnout would be and determine support in a county that is pro-Trump and Pro-Republican.”
U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, who served with DeSantis when he was a congressman and represents Butler County, introduced the governor.
Former President Leading Polls
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who won reelection last November and was widely criticized by many conservatives in Ohio for his implementation of COVID-19 mask mandates and lockdowns, was notably absent.DeWine has also avoided several of Trump’s Ohio visits.
Like Florida, Ohio has a Republican governor, secretary of state, and attorney general. In Congress, 10 of the 15 members are Republicans. There is a Republican super-majority in the state legislature.
J.D. Vance, who was endorsed by Trump, defeated longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan in the U.S. Senate race last November. Republicans feel confident that they can defeat longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in 2024.
Trump won Ohio by eight points in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.
FiveThirtyEight’s first national polling average for the 2024 Republican presidential primary on April 14 shows Trump with 49.3 percent of the vote and DeSantis with 26.2 percent followed by former Vice President Mike Pence at 5.8 percent and former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley at 4.3 percent.
Heartbeat Protection Act
Jake Warner serves on the Ohio Republican State Central Committee and owns several businesses in central Ohio. He made the 90-minute drive to hear DeSantis speak in West Chester and reiterated his support for the former president.“Trump’s numbers are going up. There’s a lot of support for Trump. And there’s a lot of people that will support Trump no matter what,” Warner said.
“DeSantis has done a pretty good job in Florida. There is an appeal. Many people like how he handled COVID,” Warner noted.
“He is only 44. Maybe in the future, he would be the right presidential candidate, but I think Trump’s going to be the nominee. The math shows that there’s really no path for DeSantis right now.”
After finishing his remarks in Butler County, DeSantis boarded a jet to sign the Heartbeat Protection Act that restricts abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
Around six hours earlier, the Florida House voted 70–40 to pass the legislation.
On April 14, DeSantis is scheduled to deliver the convocation keynote address at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.
He will also speak at the New Hampshire Republican Party’s Amos Tuck Dinner in Manchester on April 14.
