Does Ron DeSantis actually champion Republican values?

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, is embroiled in a highly visible feud with Disney, one of the largest entertainment companies in the nation. His battle has reached the point that Disney is now planning to curtail investments in its Florida campus, cancelling its intention to build a $1 billion office complex.

A feud of this sort between an elected official and a corporate giant — Disney employs more than 75,000 people in Florida alone — makes no sense. Yet such activities occur when individuals exploit their position of power against entities that are not beholden to them.

This very public battle between DeSantis and Disney demonstrates that they are on opposite sides of the political spectrum. According to the Republican National Committee, “the Republican Party has always stood for freedom, prosperity, and opportunity.” Is Ron DeSantis exuding such principles in his battle with Disney?

To make such an assessment, let’s look at these three principles and see how DeSantis’s actions stack up.

Freedom: The feud between DeSantis and Disney was sparked when Disney criticized a Florida education law that places restrictions on gender identity and sexual orientation instruction in schools. 

The First Amendment gives any individual or entity the right to freedom of speech. Elected officials are regularly criticized; Disney’s reaction to the Florida law was exercising this right.

The Republican Party must recognize that some LGBTQ members are members of their party as well. No political party is a single-issue entity. To win elections at any level, leaving “votes on the table” is a losing gambit at the ballot box. 

If DeSantis supports freedom, this must include freedom of speech, even on a law that many Republicans are in agreement on.

Prosperity: Disney has made tremendous investments in central Florida that continue to pay dividends both for the company and the state. 

Disney can certainly decide to pack up and move to an environment that is more consistent with its values. However, Disney knows that DeSantis is one election away from being irrelevant in Florida. As such, any threats or posturing is likely just part of the negotiations that Disney is undertaking while it waits out the hurricane of legislation that DeSantis throws at it.

DeSantis’s move to strip Disney of its special tax status would be what some would label a Democrat-leaning economic policy, which is to tax a wealthy corporation for the benefit of the community (though in this case taxing Disney reeks of retribution, not sound fiscal policy). If DeSantis supports prosperity, he should build bridges, not create barbed wire fences, between himself and Disney. The economic value that Disney brings to the state benefits all Floridians.

Opportunity: Both Democrats and Republics support policies that create opportunities for success. Where they differ is how to achieve that.

One consequence of engaging a private entity in a public battle with an elected official is the negative perception. Governors are the leaders of their states. They represent the people and are charged to act in the best interests of all its residents. Is alienating one of the largest employers in your state sound policy? Does it give other companies the incentive to move into your state, particularly those with leadership that does not share the same political views?

Without creating a welcoming environment for people and corporations, opportunities may be lost in the future, which ultimately hurts residents.    

If DeSantis supports opportunity, he should not be engaging in public battles with private corporations that can be viewed as retaliatory. This does nothing more than suppress opportunities within the state.

As a Republican, DeSantis purports to espouse the principles of freedom, prosperity and opportunity that define the party. His reaction to Disney appears antithetical to them, both in spirit and in practice. If anything, they embody confinement, retaliatory taxation and adversity.

With DeSantis officially now in the 2024 presidential race, the Disney debacle will only add more attention to him and his announcement. In the primaries, Republican voters will have to decide what they stand for, and whether DeSantis lives up to that. But even then, the larger question that remains for all voters is, is this what America wants?

Sheldon H. Jacobson, Ph.D., is a founder professor in computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A data scientist, he applies his expertise in data-driven risk-based decision-making to evaluate and inform public policy.