Ron DeSantis’ battle with Disney over the company’s opposition to the so-called “don’t say gay” bill is “foolish” and shows the Florida governor as thin-skinned, according to a former GOP congressman.
David Jolly, who represented Florida’s 13th congressional district between 2014 and 2017, believes that DeSantis may have gone too far in going after Disney in the latest outbreak of the culture wars.
Jolly, who left the Republican Party in 2018 and is a vocal critic of top DeSantis ally Donald Trump, told The Washington Post the governor was taking a risk by feuding with a company that is a major source of pride, and income, in the Sunshine State.
“It’s a foolish move politically, but he’ll use it as currency in the Republican Party politics of today to say it’s a war on woke,” Jolly said.
“Disney will be fine. But what this does is show Americans that Ron DeSantis is a governor with a glass jaw who cannot tolerate criticism. That’s what this is about, nothing more than that.”
DeSantis has frequently criticized Disney after it came out against HB 1557, legislation the governor signed into law on March 28 that aims to ban the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in certain grades at Florida schools.
In a statement, The Walt Disney Company said that the bill “should never have passed and should never have been signed into law” and announced it will seek its repeal.
DeSantis, a political firebrand, has rejected all criticism of HB 177 including its description as a “don’t say gay” bill, and accused Disney of having “crossed the line” by voicing their opposition to state legislation.
One of his other attacks on the business was accusing it of double standards for running a cruise line which docks in Dominica—where homosexual intercourse is illegal—while objecting to the bill.
“You’ve got to wonder why is the hill to die on to have transgenderism injected into kindergarten classrooms, or woke gender ideology injected into second grade classrooms,” DeSantis…