Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is accusing former President Donald Trump of moving to the left on fiscal and cultural issues.
During an interview on the “Matt Murphy Show” after announcing his presidential campaign, DeSantis said, “At the end of the day though, [Trump] is going left on a lot of the fiscal, he’s going left on culture, he’s even sided with Disney against me.”
“I stood up to Disney because I oppose the sexualization of our children. I think it’s wrong in school, but I also think it’s wrong when Disney is trying to jam that into their programming. So we not only beat them on parents’ rights legislation, we ended their self-governing status in Florida — which they were not entitled to,” he continued.
Listen to his comments below:
LISTEN: Ron DeSantis says Donald Trump is "going left" on the issues
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) May 26, 2023
"He's even sided with Disney against me. You know, I stood up to Disney because I oppose the sexualization of our children […] I don't know what happened to Donald Trump. This is a different guy [from 2016]." pic.twitter.com/1a2lcqOTe9
DeSantis kicked off his effort to strip Disney of its self-governing status in 2022 after it criticized the state’s Parental Rights in Education Act — which prohibits classroom instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation through third grade.
Fox News noted the feud “escalated” with a Disney board “passing agreements that effectively negated a Florida law meant to strip the entertainment giant of its self-governing authority. In response, the governor asked his chief inspector general to investigate the move and has floated a series of proposals, including putting a prison next to Disney.”
Trump took aim at the Florida governor of the feud as he wrote on Truth Social, “DeSanctus is being absolutely destroyed by Disney.”
“His original P.R. plan fizzled, so now he’s going back with a new one in order to save face,” he added.
DeSantis reiterated his claim Trump is siding with Disney.
“So, you know, people have to make their decisions about which way they go,” he continued.
Finally, the governor insisted, “I don’t know what happened to Donald Trump. This is a different guy today than when he was running in 2015 and 2016.”
“And I think the direction he’s going with his campaign is the wrong direction,” he added.
DeSantis launched his presidential campaign on Wednesday.
Trump has been criticizing him in posts on Truth Social.
In one video, he claimed DeSantis is “better than most Democrat governors, but very average, at best, compared to Republican governors.” He also insisted former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) handled the COVID-19 pandemic better than DeSantis.
“And look at Disney and what a mess it is. Could have worked out an easy settlement, but no, he wanted to show the fake news how tough a guy he is. He’s not,” Trump claimed.
