Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday said that Disney CEO Bob Iger should drop his company’s lawsuit accusing the Republican governor of political retaliation.
“They’re suing the state of Florida. They will lose that lawsuit,” DeSantis said in an interview with CNBC’s “Last Call” set to air in full at 7 p.m. ET.
“So what I’d say is, drop the lawsuit,” the governor said when asked what he would tell Iger if he were to present him a call today.
“That is an incredible place to do business,” DeSantis said, citing Florida’s status as the highest state economy in CNBC’s latest national survey. The Sunshine State scored eighth overall in CNBC’s rating of America’s Top States for Business in 2023.
“Your competitors all do thoroughly here, Universal, SeaWorld. They’ve not had the identical special privileges as you might have,” DeSantis said he’d tell Iger.
“So all we wish to do is treat everybody the identical, and let’s move forward. I’m totally high-quality with that. But I’m not high-quality with giving extraordinary privileges, you realize, to 1 special company on the exclusion of everybody else,” he said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, speaks with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan on Aug. 14, 2023.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
DeSantis was referencing Walt Disney World’s special tax district, which has change into a key battleground within the governor’s long-running feud with one in all his state’s top employers.
The governor and his allies targeted the district — which has allowed the Orlando-area theme park to essentially self-govern its operations because the Nineteen Sixties — shortly after Disney denounced a controversial GOP-backed classroom bill last yr.
Facing pressure from inside his company, Disney’s then-CEO Bob Chapek got here out against the laws, which limited classroom discussion of gender and sexual orientation and has been dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics. After the bill was signed in March 2022, Disney vowed to assist repeal it.
In February, DeSantis signed a bill putting the district under his control by letting him handpick its five-member board of supervisors. That recent board accused Disney of thwarting its power by crafting long-term development deals. In April, the DeSantis board voted to nullify those contracts, prompting Disney to sue in federal court.
The corporate alleges DeSantis “orchestrated at every step” a campaign of presidency retaliation “as punishment for Disney’s protected speech.”
DeSantis and the opposite defendants within the lawsuit have asked for the case to be dismissed.
The governor said in Monday’s interview that he and his allies have “mainly moved on” from the feud.
“I’d just say, return to what you probably did well. I feel it will be the precise business decision, and all that,” he said.
But DeSantis has incessantly invoked his battle with Disney on the campaign trail as he seeks the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. The governor, whose political style encompasses a heavy emphasis on fighting “woke” social issues, has accused Disney of sexualizing children.
Iger told CNBC last month that those claims are “preposterous and inaccurate.”
Once seen as a serious threat to Donald Trump within the GOP primary race, DeSantis has struggled to shut his polling gap with the previous president and shore up concerns from some top donors in regards to the campaign.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of Universal Studios and CNBC.
— CNBC’s Sarah Whitten contributed to this report.
