First Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, now a Texas judge has lined up to welcome Disney to their states, throwing criticisms at Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis for his ongoing feud with the resort.
Fort Bend County Judge KP George sent a copy of a letter to Disney’s CEO inviting the company to bring a new Walt Disney World resort to Texas rather than “face attacks from the modern day political extremists like (DeSantis).”
“While you, your company, employees and diverse fans face authoritarian, anti-business, and culture war attacks from extremists in Florida, we in Fort Bend are more than ready to welcome the Disney family with thousands of good-paying jobs and billions of dollars of investments,” George, a Democrat, wrote in his letter.
What’s happening: DeSantis on Friday signed a bill revoking a 55-year-old arrangement that gave Disney a special tax status and allowed the company to essentially self-govern its 25,000-acre Disney World complex, The New York Times reported.
The DeSantis-Disney rift started when the governor signed a bill that prohibits classroom instruction and discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in certain elementary school classrooms — also known by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
After initially staying silent about the issue, the Times reported, Disney joined the debate when its CEO, Bob Chapek, criticized the bill.
Chapek’s comments set off DeSantis, a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate. DeSantis and other conservative talking heads began to criticize what they called “Woke Disney” politics.
“If Disney wants to pick a fight, they chose the wrong guy,” DeSantis wrote in a fundraising email to supporters, the Times reported.
‘Mountain Disneyland’: While Disney has not responded to DeSantis’ revocation of its special designation, leaders from other states have extended warm, pun-laced invitations for a relocation of Disney World.
Polis, a moderate Democrat, invited Disney to build a “Mountain Disneyland” in Colorado, where he tweeted Mickey and Minnie Mouse would be granted “full asylum.”
Polis also took aim at DeSantis. “Florida’s authoritarian socialist attacks on the private sector are driving businesses away,” he tweeted.