Trump says DeSantis to blame for Disney becoming ‘woke’ and ‘disgusting’

DeSantis has clashed with one of his state’s biggest employers over Florida’s so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law

Donald Trump has criticised Ron DeSantis for not taking on Disney sooner, suggesting his main rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination could have prevented the entertainment giant from becoming – in his words – “woke” and “disgusting”.

Mr Trump lashed out at both Disney and Mr DeSantis on Sunday as the Florida governor remains locked in a feud with one of America’s best-loved brands, after it opposed his so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

“Disney has become a Woke and Disgusting shadow of its former self, with people actually hating it. Must go back to what it once was, or the ‘market’ will do irreparable damage,” Mr Trump said.

“This all happened during the Governorship of “Rob” DeSanctimonious. Instead of complaining now, for publicity reasons only, he should have stopped it long ago. Would have been easy to do - Still is!”

Disney’s row with the Florida governor began when it came under pressure from employees to take a stance against a new law that prohibits school teachers from discussing gender identity and sexuality in the classroom.

In retaliation, Mr DeSantis signed legislation to take away Disney’s self-governing status and appointed a new board of supervisors. Before the new board came in, the company signed agreements with the old board made up of Disney supporters that stripped the new supervisors of design and construction authority.

Later, the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature passed a law to allow the DeSantis-appointed board to repeal those agreements and the theme park resort’s monorail system subject to state inspection, something it had previously done in-house.

It prompted Disney to file a lawsuit against the Florida governor and his appointed board last month. It claimed in the lawsuit that it was in violation of free speech and the contracts clause.

In a tit-for-tat move, the DeSantis-appointed board earlier this month sued Disney in state court in Orlando seeking to void the deals the company made with the previous board.

The row has seen Disney, which provides thousands of jobs, cancel its plans to build a $1bn project to create new campus in central Florida that would have involved relocating 2,000 employees from southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development.

“We have plans to invest $17 billion and create 13,000 jobs over the next 10 years. I hope we’re able to do so.” said Josh D’Amaro, Disney’s parks chief, who said he remained optimistic about the future of Disney.

Disney employs an estimated 80,000 people in Florida and is often described as operating its own kingdom within the state.

Earlier this month, Mr Trump’s campaign lashed out at Mr DeSantis for getting caught in the “mouse trap” and losing jobs from the state’s largest employer.

“Ron DeSanctimonious gets caught in a mouse trap,” said a tweet from Trump’s campaign account. “The Culture Of Losing Continues,” referring to Mr DeSantis’ recent string of electoral defeats.

“DeSanctus’ weakness leads to job losses and loss of $1B,” the tweet added.