OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is one of the most popular Republicans in the nation, and one reason for that is his penchant for saying what is on his mind, like former President Donald Trump.
During a press conference in Gulf County on Friday the governor said that if Democrat Georgia candidate Stacey Abrams were to win the governorship of his neighboring state there would be a “Cold War” between them, Fox News reported.
“If Stacey Abrams is elected governor of Georgia, I just want to be honest, that will be a cold war between Florida and Georgia,” the Florida governor said.
“I can’t have Castro to my south and Abrams to my north, that would be a disaster,” he said, in reference to Cuba. “So I hope you guys take care of that and we’ll end up in good shape.”
Abrams lost to current Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in 2018 in an election she still has not formally conceded.
“The governor was simply making an analogy to the stark ideological differences that underpinned the Cold War. If Stacey Abrams wins the governorship of Georgia, we know that her approach to leadership will involve more heavy-handed government, taxes, and bureaucrat influence. In Florida, Governor DeSantis will continue to keep Florida free and put citizens first,” a spokesperson for the Florida governor said to Newsweek.
The Florida governor made news recently by threatening to revoke Disney’s self-governing status.
Republicans are now looking into a possible repeal the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act, WGN9 reported.
According to historical documents from the Reedy Creek Improvement District, then-Florida Gov. Claude Kirk signed the RCID Act into law in May 1967, creating two municipalities: Bay Lake and Reedy Creek, which was later renamed Lake Buena Vista. The location, nestled between Orange and Osceola counties, would later become the site where Walt Disney World was built.
The RCID Charter created a 25,000-acre of land as a special taxing district. At the time, it was considered remote and uninhabitable, but now is the site of one of the busiest theme parks in the United States.
To make Disney’s plan happen, the area had to get special privileges from the state of Florida to essentially run itself.
“In 1967, the Florida State legislature, working with Walt Disney World Company, created a special taxing district – called the Reedy Creek Improvement District – that would act with the same authority and responsibility as a county government,” RCID says on its website.
And now that Disney has spoken against the new law signed by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis some are considering ending the Act.
“Yesterday was the 2nd meeting in a week w/fellow legislators to discuss a repeal of the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act, which allows Disney to act as its own government. If Disney wants to embrace woke ideology, it seems fitting that they should be regulated by Orange County,” Republican State Representative Spencer Roach said.
Yesterday was the 2nd meeting in a week w/fellow legislators to discuss a repeal of the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act, which allows Disney to act as its own government. If Disney wants to embrace woke ideology, it seems fitting that they should be regulated by Orange County. pic.twitter.com/6sj29Gj6Wz
— SpencerRoach (@SpencerRoachFL) March 30, 2022
But Gov. DeSantis says that the consideration is not in retaliation for Disney’s stance.
“I would not say that would be retaliatory. The way I view it is there are certain entities that have exerted a lot of influence through corporate means to generate special privileges in the law. I don’t think we should have special privileges in the law at all,” the governor said. “Some of these things have developed over the years. I had to deal with this last year, when we passed a law last year to protect Floridians from big tech censorship. The idea was to let them be able to sue under the ‘Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act,’ protect political candidates from being de-platformed, stuff that was good. And it’s being litigated in the courts, which we knew it would. But at the 11th hour, the Legislature slips in a provision in that law that said ‘If you operate a theme park, it doesn’t apply to you.’ And that was meant solely to protect Disney.”
Disney announced earlier this week that they are axing gendered language such as “boys and girls” and “ladies and gentleman” in their park greetings to promote gender inclusivity.
Disney’s diversity and inclusion manager Vivian Ware was heard speaking about the changes in a video conference call recorded by City Journal’s Christopher Rufo.
“We’ve provided training for all of our cast members in relation to that. So now they know it’s ‘Hello, everyone,’ or ‘Hello, friends,'” Ware said in the video.
Parkgoers will no longer hear “ladies and gentlemen” and “boys and girls” in park greetings, according to the video.
“We want to create that magical moment with our cast members, with our guests,” she said. “And we don’t want to just assume because someone might be in, our interpretation, may be presenting as female that they may not want to be ‘princess.'”
