Trump may have forced DeSantis to 'move on' from war with Disney: editorial board

After months of drama, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appears ready to give up his fight with Disney World — and one reason for that might be former President Donald Trump, wrote the Miami Herald's editorial board.

DeSantis spent months escalating a legal and political fight with Disney – claiming the corporation "sexualizes children," stripping its control over a special taxing district, and even threatening to toll the roads into Disney World or build a state prison next to it – after Disney criticized his legislation attacking LGBTQ rights.

But lately he has backed down, saying in interviews he has "basically moved on" and would like to bury the hatchet because Florida is a "great place to do business" — ironic, noted the board, for someone whose super PAC's name is "Never Back Down." DeSantis himself said just a few months previously there was "zero" chance he'd capitulate.

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What changed his tune, the board wrote, could be that the Disney fight was backfiring in his efforts to challenge Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination for president.

Trump and his allies were already taunting DeSantis for months about the affair, with one staffer saying DeSantis was "out-negotiated by Mickey Mouse." More recently, hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin has explicitly criticized DeSantis' attacks on Disney, a clear warning that the Florida governor could see the funding for his campaign dry up if he doesn't change his message.

Disney, for its part, does not seem quite ready to move on from all of this, as they are advancing a lawsuit against Florida in federal court, saying that the DeSantis administration's actions amount to an attack on the company's First Amendment rights. And in the meantime, Florida's economy has suffered from the fight as Disney canceled plans to build a new corporate campus that would have relocated 2,000 jobs to the state from California.

Ultimately, "DeSantis’ change in tone is another political calculation, just like attacking 'wokeness' in Florida," wrote the board, adding that if DeSantis "has any hope of gaining ground against Trump, he needs to abandon some of his extreme stances.

"But it’s not that easy for the rest of us. He may want to 'move on' from the Disney attacks, but we have to live with the damage he’s done to the state."