'Petty and small': Analysts explain how DeSantis is alienating his 'base voters' in dispute with Disney

30 April 2023

Florida's GOP governor Ron DeSantis' ongoing feud with The Walt Disney Company stemming from its public rebuke of the DeSantis administration's legislative assaults on LGBTQI+ rights has drawn scorn from members of the Republican Party, who maintain that the spat could weaken DeSantis if he decides to run for president in 2024.

DeSantis is widely viewed as the most formidable challenger to former President Donald Trump, who announced his candidacy last November.

On Sunday's edition of Meet the Press, MSNBC aired a supercut of Republicans sharing their disapproval of DeSantis' clash with Disney.

House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy (California):

I think the idea of building a prison next to a place that you bring your family is the best idea.

United States Senator Marco Rubio (Florida):

I do worry that if this happens too many times, businesses that are thinking about coming to Florida are saying maybe we don't want to go there.

Ex-South Carolina governor, US ambassador to the United Nations, and 2024 presidential contender Nikki Haley:

If Disney would like to move their hundreds of thousands of jobs to South Carolina and bring the billions of dollars with them, I'll let them know. I'll be happy to meet them.

Former Arkansas governor and 2024 White House hopeful Asa Hutchinson:

I don't agree how Disney has handled things. But you don't use the heavy hand of government to punish a business.

Moderator Chuck Todd observed to NBC Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles that "the number two candidate is getting the pile on right now, not the front runner," in reference to DeSantis.

"Yeah, it's interesting. I've, I've talked to some DeSantis advisors about this and there is a recognition about how he's being pillared right now, uh, by not just Republicans, but Democrats as well, and what they keep saying is, 'just wait for him to get in the race,'" Nobles said.

"You know, he's obviously amassing a huge war chest right now, both within a super PAC and he has the ability to raise a lot of money as a candidate himself," Nobles continued. "And so their, you know, their feeling is until he is actually a candidate, we really shouldn't be overstating the difficulty that he's having in this early part of the campaign."

Todd then turned to NBC's Washington correspondent Yamiche Alcindor, to whom he recalled that "there was a former Florida governor who had so much money. That was gonna be a huge factor in 2015. How'd that work out?"

Alcindor quipped that "he had a famous last name," referring to then-Governor Jeb Bush (R), who dropped out of the 2016 contest following his dismal performance in South Carolina's February primary.

"That didn't work out very well, and when you look at Ron DeSantis, and I've talked to some conservatives about this, they say, 'Going to war with Disney, not only does it look petty and look small, but you're also going after a huge employer of blue-collar people who are gonna be your base voters,'" Alcindor said, adding that when "Disney starts telling their employees, 'Hey, this is a problem, and here's the person who's making your life hard,' it's gonna be hard for Ron DeSantis."

Watch below or at this link.

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