Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is taking on Disney for speaking out against his “Don’t Say Gay” law, and the ladies of The View were none too impressed. As guest host Ana Navarro put it during today’s episode: “There’s a difference between a mouse and a rat.”
DeSantis recently revoked Disney’s special tax status within the state, a move that could wind up costing Florida taxpayers $2 billion.
“We had an entire legislative session in Florida focused on manufactured culture wars,” Navarro said. “How can you call yourself a pro-business, pro-freedom of speech, small government [politician who’s] against canceling conservatives if you want to cancel one of the major corporations in Florida for freely speaking their mind in protection of their employees.”
Navarro noted out that Disney’s so-called move against DeSantis amounted to a few comments from the company’s CEO. However, out of 1,844 special taxing districts in Florida, he went after the House of Mouse.
“It was to penalize and take revenge against Disney for having dared cross a pet legislative cause of theirs,” she continued. “And that is wrong!”
“Bigotry is on the ballot when it comes to Ron DeSantis. That’s what this is about,” Sunny Hostin argued. “They don’t want people to know there are social injustices going on. They don’t want [marginalized] people to be respected. And it’s so shameful.”
Fellow guest host Amber Ruffin called DeSantis’ plan a “genius freakin’ move.”
“All you have to do is create a bogeyman and then say, ‘I’m going to protect you against the bogeyman,’” she said. “It was Black people, it’s LGBT people, it’s whatever is on the menu. They’re riling up their base with anger.”
Meanwhile, Sara Haines worried about the dispute’s impact on ordinary people in Florida.
“We’re having the worst inflation in 40 years. People aren’t able to put food on the table or buy groceries right now,” she said. “And you’re gonna hit them with a tax because you signed a bill that won’t affect you?”
Haines acknowledged that since DeSantis is currently running for reelection with an eye on the 2024 presidential election, “this is a national move.”
“This was running for president,” she added. “Because when it comes to his constituents and his state, this is gonna hurt them.”
The View airs weekdays at 11/10c. Scroll up to watch a clip from today’s episode.