Did Disney Outwit DeSantis?

Not a good look for somebody who wants to negotiate with Xi and Putin

As if plummeting poll numbers weren’t enough, it now appears Ron DeSantis got outwitted by a mouse.

One of DeSantis’s greatest victories as governor came in his righteous battle against Disney, the kingdom of groomers. DeSantis dissolved a special taxing district that gave Disney carte blanche control over its property in the state, including law enforcement.

But Disney may have pulled the rug out from under DeSantis.

On February 8, the day the Florida legislature approved the replacement of the Reedy Creek district with a new board appointed by the governor, the Reedy Creek board—still in operation—transferred virtually all of the powers and rights of the board to Disney through contracts. If this stands, the board appointed by DeSantis will be toothless while Disney continues total control over its properties.

DeSantis and his team had no idea Reedy Creek had signed these contracts, even though Reedy Creek held public hearings in accordance with their bylaws and Florida laws. It took almost two months for DeSantis to realize Disney pulled a fast one on him. China would walk all over this guy.

The DeSantis board has hired law firms to try to get out of the contracts. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. Even if the courts allow the new board to break the contracts with Disney, it won’t make DeSantis look any better. How in the world could his entire staff have missed the public hearings? Why did take nearly two months to discover this maneuver? Was DeSantis too busy preparing to run for president?

This is just latest stumble for DeSantis in a two-week collapse of his presidential ambitions that started in his Karl Rove-written (and rehearsed) swipe at Donald Trump in response to a planted question from fake reporter. That was followed by a disastrous interview with Piers Morgan and news that his major financial backers have cut off funding to his campaign. In between, his book signings flopped, and he tried to have Trump supporters arrested for wearing Trump shirts in a public mall.

Now, according to Fox News, which all but endorsed DeSantis for president last fall, President Trump has widened his lead over the governor again. Via The Gateway Pundit:

President Trump took a commanding lead in the most recent FOX News poll.  This is despite the leadership and hosts at FOX trying to take him down. 

That poll was completed before news broke about Disney outwitting DeSantis. And President Trump has already weighed in:

Perhaps it’s time for Ron to put aside his White House ambitions and focus on being the best governor Florida ever had. He was doing a brilliant job until he started reading his own press and listening to Karl Rove and Paul Ryan.

If he’s smart, DeSantis will tell the GOP establishment to kiss off while he repairs his reputation among the New Right—which is the future of the GOP.

(I will update this post when Donald Trump addresses the Disney debacle.)