“This is right in DeSantis’ wheelhouse,” said José Oliva, a DeSantis ally who was the Florida House speaker in 2019 and 2020, the governor’s first two years in office. “Disney’s woke capitalism is exactly what DeSantis calls out.”…
Because of DeSantis’ status as a national figure in the Republican Party, he has built a strong base of small-dollar donors who potentially insulate him from any fears of losing corporate contributions, which nevertheless fill his substantial war chest. And that makes it easier for him to collect campaign money on one hand, and beat corporations with the other, if it fits his agenda.
“DeSantis’ national small-dollar donors, the QAnon extreme-right crowd is who he plays to. It’s not Floridians,” said Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, which sued the state Thursday over the law Disney denounced…
DeSantis’ Disney feud is a continuation of his fight-all-comers political style that turned him into a national GOP figure during the pandemic, when experts criticized his laissez-faire approach to Covid response. The criticism and negative media coverage prompted fiery responses from DeSantis, and the Republican base loved the politics as well as the policy.
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