Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is firing back at the Walt Disney Company’s returning CEO, Bob Iger, who lamented the entertainment giant was somehow unwillingly “dragged” into a political fight in the Sunshine State over the “Parental Rights in Education” bill.
DeSantis made the remarks during an interview Tuesday evening with Fox News’s Tucker Carlson.
Carlson set the stage by playing a clip of Iger, who chose his return as Disney’s chief executive in the wake of his predecessor Bob Chapek’s strife-strewn tenure, to offer contrition: “I was sorry to see us dragged into that battle. And I have no idea exactly what its ramifications are in terms of the business itself.”
“What I can say is, the state of Florida has been important to us for a long time, and we have been very important to the state of Florida,” Iger added during a town-hall event with Disney staffers, as Breitbart News reported. “That is something I’m extremely mindful of and will articulate if I get the chance.”
Iger’s return comes as the company continues its struggle for financial viability in the wake of a host of self-inflicted stumbles.
For his part, DeSantis takes a different approach to Disney’s problems. He dismissed Iger’s stance as an innocent dragged into an unwilling fight over what critics called the “Don’t Say Gay Bill.”
“We didn’t drag them in, Tucker,” the Florida governor told Carlson. “They went in on their own, and not only opposed the bill. They threatened to get it repealed.”
DeSantis was referring to a statement released by Disney in late March when the entertainment company said its “goal” was to see the new parental rights law “repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that.”
“These are parents’ rights, important policies in our state that are very popular,” the governor added. “And so they brought this on themselves. All we did was stand up for what’s right. And, yes, they’re a big, powerful company. But you know what? We stand up for our folks. And I don’t care what a Burbank-based California company says about our laws.”
Watch the exchange between DeSantis and Carlson below:
Florida’s bill protects children from kindergarten through third grade from being exposed to adult sexual content stemming from gender theory. The bill also ensures parents have a right to know what is going on in their children’s schools.
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