Even though explosives aren’t traditionally associated with Memorial Day, Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump are holding their own fireworks display on Monday morning.
Monday morning, the governor of Florida made a live appearance on Fox & Friends from Jacksonville, Florida. He was questioned on a variety of topics, including the debt ceiling negotiations and why he believes he should be the Republican nominee instead of the former president.
Eventually, he was questioned by Todd Piro about his chances in Iowa, which is home to a significant early caucus primary that many political insiders consider crucial to his and any candidate’s chances of becoming the presidential nominee. The query posed to him was, “Governor, do you think you can win Iowa?”
In his response, DeSantis took aim at Trump, particularly in relation to the intra-party divisive issue of Disney:
“I mean, you know, they had mentioned there may be some differences with me and Donald Trump. And I think that those differences redound to my benefit in a place like Iowa. I mean, for example, you know, he’s taken the side of Disney in our fight down here in Florida. I’m standing for parents, I’m standing for children. And I think a multibillion dollar company that sexualizes children is not consistent with the values of Florida or the values of a place like Iowa.”
“He’s taken the side of Disney,” the governor answered, branding them as “a multibillion-dollar company that sexualizes children.” This accusation did not sit well with Trump, who lashed back right after in a social media post that read:
“Ron DeSanctimonious just stated, without correction on Fox & Friends, that I was “backing” Disney. Wrong! Fox should have read my posted TRUTH on Disney, but that’s not the game they play. Also, in the polls, I am beating Biden by a lot, “Rob” isn’t! Also, WAY UP ON RON. Check out the DeSanctus speech at the Trump Rally I gave to get him elected. Not easy! p.s. I got 1.2 Million more votes in Florida than Ron, a little reported fact!”
After that, Trump reposted a tweet from the previous day in which he blamed DeSantis for the alleged metamorphosis of Disney into a “Woke and Disgusting” company during his tenure as Florida governor:
“Disney has become a Woke and Disgusting shadow of its former self, with people actually hating it. Must go back to what it once was, or the “market” will do irreparable damage. This all happened during the Governorship of “Rob” DeSanctimonious. Instead of complaining now, for publicity reasons only, he should have stopped it long ago. Would have been easy to do – Still is!”
It is unclear how an elected official could prevent a private company from engaging in any business activities it considers appropriate within the state’s rules and regulations. How a politician who supports limited government and opposes additional regulations could make such a claim is also unclear.