Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump recently took a swipe at Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., for the conservative leader’s ongoing corporate skirmish with Disney, highlighting “crashed” polling numbers and DeSantis’s “shadow” campaign.
“First Ron DeSanctimonious got outplayed, outsmarted, and embarrassed by Mickey Mouse and Disney, and now, while Fort Lauderdale is facing the worst flooding in 100 years, DeSanctus is on tour with his ‘shadow’ campaign for president, instead of taking care of the people of Florida,” Trump wrote on Truth Social over the weekend.
The president was referring to the torrential rainfall experienced in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, earlier this month, which caused flooding in Broward County. Gov. DeSantis was on a book tour in Ohio during the flooding, New Republic reported.
As previously reported by RSBN, Florida legislation HB 9B ended Disney’s self-governing status after the corporate megalith launched an attack on the Sunshine State’s erroneously labeled “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
However, despite the strong action Gov. DeSantis took against Disney, Rick Foglesong wrote for the Orlando Sentinel that the “Happiest Place on Earth” had managed to deftly preserve its exemptions from property and state sales taxes.
Perhaps partly in response to Trump’s public exposure of Disney’s corporate outmaneuvering, Gov. DeSantis organized a press conference on Monday that addressed Disney’s “futile attempt to subvert the will of the Legislature.”
DeSantis clarified on Twitter, “Disney’s sloppy and futile attempt to subvert the will of the Legislature and Floridians was uncovered by our state oversight board and their 11th hour agreements will be nullified by the Legislature. Disney’s corporate kingdom is over.”
Just one day after DeSantis delivered his press conference, Trump slammed the governor again in a Truth Social post. “DeSanctus is being absolutely destroyed by Disney,” Trump remarked. “His original P.R. plan fizzled, so now he’s going back with a new one in order to save face.”
Trump added, “Disney’s next move will be the announcement that no more money will be invested in Florida because of the Governor – In fact, they could even announce a slow withdrawal or sale of certain properties, or the whole thing. Watch! That would be a killer.”
Trump has previously called DeSantis’s fight with Disney a “public relations inspired battle.”
In another official statement, President Trump continued to attack Gov. DeSantis, claiming that the Florida leader was finally “admitting he’s in the race” for the 2024 presidency.
“Now that Ron DeSanctimonious is finally admitting he’s in the Race by beginning to fight back, and now that his polls have crashed so he has no other choice, let me explain the facts,” Trump added in an official statement. “He is, for a Republican, an average Governor, he got 1.2 million less Votes in Florida than me, he fought for massive cuts in Social Security and Medicare, and wanted Social Security minimum age to be raised to 70-years-old, or more.”
DeSantis has not yet announced a presidential bid.