UPDATED with DeSantis response: Ron DeSantis’ 2024 White House bid crashed and burned last week, and now he’s facing ridicule from both Disney and Donald Trump for his ongoing legal battle with the Mouse House. Disney lawyers have responded to DeSantis’ attempt to toss the federal judge in their “retaliation” suit against him, stating that “Defendants’ motion to disqualify is premised on a misapprehension of the law and a misstatement of the facts.” They go on to cite “the Court’s lengthy record of consistent fairness and objectivity,” slamming DeSantis for cherry-picking Judge Walker’s comments and taking legal precedent out of context. DeSantis’ legal team contends that the judge’s remarks “create significant doubts” about his impartiality.
The battle between DeSantis and Disney has escalated with countersuits, more hostile words, and even the Mouse House pulling the plug on a multi-billion construction project and employee relocation project. Trump has ridiculed his one-time protégé for the Disney dust-up, but now he’s turned his wrath on the company itself. Taking to his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump declared that Disney is a “Woke and Disgusting shadow of its former self.” Sidestepping specifics as usual, Trump then went on to rant that Disney will suffer “irreparable damage” if the company doesn’t “go back to what it once was.”
Despite being a target of Trump’s ire, Disney may take some comfort in the fact that the former president’s real prey remains the “publicity”-seeking DeSantis. As Trump said on May 29: “This all happened during the Governorship of ‘Rob’ DeSanctimonious.” On that, Trump and Disney still agree.
In the midst of all this drama, DeSantis saw a sudden resignation on May 27 from the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s Board of Supervisors, which he stacked earlier this year to snatch control of the area around Disney World back from the Mouse House. The as-yet unexplained exit of GOP loyalist and Disney lawsuit co-defendant Michael Sasso from the Special District overseeing group previously known for over 50 years as Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District came just five days after DeSantis appointed his spouse Meredith Sasso to Florida’s Supreme Court.
Months after DeSantis turned his displeasure on Disney for the corporation’s fumbling opposition in 2022 to Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law, the Magic Kingdom belted DeSantis, Sasso, and others on April 25 with a stinging suit. Following up on comments Iger had already made publicly, the company claimed its First Amendment and other constitutional rights had been violated in retaliation for disapproval to the state’s discriminatory parental rights legislation.
It’s a high-stakes battle, and the tension is palpable. Stay tuned for updates.
— Ted Johnson contributed to this report.
