(Fox News) The mainstream media’s open support for Disney in its fight against Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., took on a whole new look after a settlement was reached that appeared to end in DeSantis’ favor.
After ongoing legal battles, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, a board appointed by DeSantis, voted to approve a settlement deal with Disney on Wednesday. The settlement addressed the two-year litigation battle over who rightfully controls the formally titled Reedy Creek Improvement District that encompasses the Walt Disney World Resort.
The settlement officially invalidated Disney’s previous attempts to retain governing control over the district and ended all pending litigation in Florida state court.
Since DeSantis’ plan to dissolve Disney’s self-governing status was announced in 2022, many media outlets quickly took sides with the House of Mouse and predicted that DeSantis would be crushed.
Various mainstream media outlets previously said that Disney would crush DeSantis in the battle over its self-governing status. (Reuters/Scott Audette | Marco Bello)
In 2022, several people at MSNBC called DeSantis’ move “authoritarian” and mocked the governor for attempting to go after the billion-dollar company.
“Later in the program, the governor of Florida’s growing authoritarian rule there and its retaliatory move against one of the biggest corporations in America — all for Disney’s crime of speaking out against discrimination and hatred,” MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace said.
Wallace spoke with frequent MSNBC guest Jason Johnson, who quipped that there were “so many Disney songs” he wanted to sing “in preparation” for the interview with Wallace. “Let It Go” and “We Don’t Talk about DeSantis” were two of the Disney reprises that Johnson had in mind.
NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd and MSNBC host and former 2020 Biden campaign aide Symone Sanders-Townsend also weighed in on the controversy, with Todd beginning a panel discussion by asserting that Republicans had “better be careful going after Disney.”
“Oh, my money’s on the Disney lobbyists, honey. My money is on the Disney lobbyists,” Sanders said.
ABC’s “The View,” which is owned by Disney, also criticized the Florida governor and suggested that there was no way DeSantis could beat the company.
“So, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is punishing our parent company, Disney, for speaking out against his so-called Don’t Say Gay law. He revoked Disney’s special status that could cost Florida taxpayers $2 billion. This goes against the GOP’s brand of being business-friendly,” co-host Joy Behar said. “Now, can he win this culture war? Because he’s taking on the mouse, and the mouse is bigger than Ron DeSantis.”
On a “Morning Joe” segment in 2023, co-host Joe Scarborough said “you can’t beat Disney” with MSNBC contributor Donny Deutsch in agreement.
“You’ve also talked in the past, and I’ve agreed with this, that DeSantis, once the stage starts to get bigger, is going to start to wilt a little bit. You can just see he’s got no answers. He’s got no punches. He’s fighting a fight he can’t win, and this, to me, is a precursor of him on a bigger national stage. And he’s just stupid. It’s a stupid, stupid play,” Desutsch said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has feuded with Disney over the Parental Rights in Education bill, leading to DeSantis dissolving the company’s self-governing status. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
During a “CBS Mornings” segment in 2023, co-host Gayle King praised Disney after it canceled an office complex project in Florida, suggesting that DeSantis’ move was a factor.
“OK, drop the microphone, [Disney CEO] Bob Iger. He seems to be saying, ‘You want to play hardball, Gov. DeSantis? Let’s go,'” King said.
