DeSantis, Haley clash over Disney fight at Iowa GOP debate.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis defended his high-profile fight against Walt Disney during a debate Wednesday night, while rival Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley criticized his treatment of the entertainment giant.
“The right role for government is to protect our children. I have defended the innocence of our children. Sexualizing the curriculum is wrong.” DeSantis said this when asked about a feud with Disney DIS.
This is consistent with the conservative view that small, limited government is best.
The fight unfolded after Disney publicly opposed a 2022 Florida law that would ban classroom lessons about sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. The law, called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by critics, was championed by DeSantis, and last year he and GOP state lawmakers took over districts that Disney had controlled in retaliation.
“It’s wrong to tell kindergartners they can change their gender, as Disney wanted to do, or to tell third-graders they were born in the wrong body,” DeSantis said Wednesday.
“That’s right. The media didn’t like it, the left didn’t like it, and Disney didn’t like it. They are the 800 pound gorillas of Florida. Most people, most corporate Republicans, would have caved. I stood and fought for my children.”
He then criticized Haley, saying she was part of the “corporatist” element of the Republican Party.
Haley responded that Disney had been “awake for a long time,” and DeSantis only began fighting against the company after the company criticized him for having “thin skin.” And according to her, that wasn’t the right approach.
“We don’t need government fighting private industry,” said Haley, a former governor of South Carolina and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
“We didn’t wake up in South Carolina. I will always invite businesses to South Carolina. But one thing you don’t do is make sure the government doesn’t harass our business.”
In a separate attack on DeSantis, Haley criticized how his presidential bid has progressed despite big spending.
“You got $150 million and you fell in the polls in Iowa. Why should you think you can manage or do anything in this country?” She said.
Their comments came Wednesday night during the 2024 Republican presidential primary debate in Iowa ahead of the nation’s first national convention on Monday night.
Former President Donald Trump is expected to win the Iowa caucuses as he has had a large lead in Iowa Republican voter polls for several months.
Trump skipped Wednesday’s debate, making it a two-person race and instead participating in a separate town hall event. He has 52% support in Iowa polls, with Haley at 17% and DeSantis at 16%, according to a moving average poll from RealClearPolitics.
New Hampshire’s Jan. 23 primary election is expected to be more competitive, especially after former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie dropped out of the Republican presidential race Wednesday afternoon. Christie was ineligible for the Iowa debate.
