'Absurd': GOP governor slams Ron DeSantis for picking a 'crazy fight' with Disney and other businesses

Although Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is considered a RINO (Republican In Name Only) by far-right MAGA extremists, more traditional conservatives have often praised him as an example of the type of moderate conservative who can win a statewide race in a blue state. And Hogan, during a recent CNN appearance, was critical of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for picking a “crazy fight” with Disney over the state’s new “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Hogan didn’t get into the specifics of the law on CNN, but he defended Disney’s right to criticize it. And he cited Disney as only one example of DeSantis picking fights with businesses that disagree with his political agenda.

The Maryland governor told CNN’s Dana Bash, “I didn’t actually see the details of the legislation, but the whole thing seems like a crazy fight…. DeSantis is always talking about, that he was not demanding businesses do things but he was telling the cruise lines what they had to do, he was telling schools what they had to do. Mandating! And now, wants to criticize Disney for expressing how they feel about the bill.”

Hogan continued, “I mean, they have every right to. We have a thing called freedom of speech. They can come out and say what they think. I think the bill was kind of absurd and not something that would have happened in our state.”

Hogan, now 65, was first elected governor of Maryland in 2014 and was reelected in 2018, when he defeated the Democratic nominee, former NAACP President Ben Jealous, by 12%. But because of Maryland’s gubernatorial term limits, Hogan cannot run for a third term in 2022.

The Republican Party is going into the 2022 midterms with a heavy emphasis on culture war battles with Democrats, which Hogan believes is a mistake.

“We have to look to the future as opposed to trying to relitigate the past and talk about, trying to talk about, crazy conspiracy theories,” Hogan told Bash. “I think that Republicans, instead of just a negative message against the Democrats, I think we have to have a message about what we’re going to do to try to solve problems.”