...
By Ewan Palmer
News Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Ron DeSantis has experienced a particularly turbulent few days in what could have been a potentially triumphant week for the Florida Governor.
DeSantis is widely expected to soon confirm his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination and he might have felt that his chances of beating Donald Trump would be enhanced with his biggest rival looking likely to become the first U.S. president to face criminal charges as part of the Stormy Daniels hush money investigation.
Instead, DeSantis's week saw him suffer a humiliating setback in his feud with Disney, being heckled and criticized during his national book tour, and falling further behind Trump in a GOP presidential primary poll.
Read More
Trump Officially Gets Another Rival for GOP’s 2024 Nomination4 min read
No, Ron DeSantis Can’t Stop Donald Trump Being Extradited3 min read
We’re Beginning to See the Real Ron DeSantis9 min read
The governor's rough week began on Wednesday when a five-person board handpicked by DeSantis to oversee the governance of Walt Disney World in Orlando revealed that an agreement made by its predecessor severely restricts the board's powers.
...
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District was brought in by DeSantis in February to replace the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which had allowed Disney to run as its own self-governing authority in Florida for over 50 years.
DeSantis was accused of trying to remove the Reedy Creek agreement in retaliation for Disney speaking out against his so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill, which bans the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in certain grades at Florida schools.
On March 29, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District revealed that before DeSantis signed a bill giving the state control of the Reedy Creek district, the district signed another deal with Disney which severely restricts the board's powers and essentially allows the company to remain self-governing.
"The mouse should teach a law school class in playing chess with DeSantis," attorney Andrew Lieb, of the Lieb at Law firm, told Newsweek.
"While the board will certainly try to rescind Disney's fascinating maneuver to work the levers of government to negate DeSantis' putting a board in place to oversee its district, it will most likely lose this battle because we hear that the mouse has attorneys with real chops, who know how to follow procedural requirements."
The following day, DeSantis traveled to a Georgia gun store as a part of his national tour promoting his new book, The Courage to Be Free: Florida's Blueprint for America's Revival.
The timing of the trip was criticized by Democratic lawmakers, who urged DeSantis to cancel the promotional event at the Adventure Outdoors gun store as it was taking place days after three children and three adults were killed in a mass shooting at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee.
"Shame on Ron DeSantis for holding a campaign event at a gun store in the wake of yet another horrific school shooting where innocent children were murdered," Rep. Nikema Williams, the chair of the Georgia Democratic Party, said in a statement.
"As DeSantis touts his extreme MAGA agenda in Georgia, his allies back home in Florida are paving the way for him to sign legislation that could make it easier for criminals to carry guns — a move that could make children in his state even less safe."
Also on Thursday, it was revealed that Trump would be indicted in connection with allegations of business fraud over $130,000 he allegedly arranged to be paid to Stormy Daniels in order to keep their alleged affair a secret ahead of the 2016 Election. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and says he did not have an affair with Daniels.
Rather than hurt Trump's hopes of returning to the White House in 2024, the development appears to have boosted his campaign, increasing his donations and motivating his support.
According to a Yahoo News/YouGov poll conducted days after news of the former president's impending indictment, Trump has more than tripled his lead over DeSantis in a head-to-head match-up among registered voters who are Republicans or Republican-leaning independents.
The most recent survey showed Trump leading DeSantis by 57 percent to 31 percent in a hypothetical primary race. In a previous Yahoo News/YouGov poll conducted two weeks ago, Trump's lead over DeSantis was just 8 percentage points (47 to 39).
Elsewhere, another DeSantis event in New York to promote his book was picketed and gatecrashed by Trump supporters.
On Saturday, dozens of Trump supporters showed their support for the former president as the Florida governor was speaking at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, Long Island on Saturday.
"We're coming out to show that this is Trump country, this is not a place for Ron DeSantis," Paul Ingrassia, co-host of the Right on Point podcast, told a reporter at the scene.
"We're very upset by the fact that DeSantis has the temerity to step on Trump territory days before this indictment thing is going down."
DeSantis was also heckled during his talk by fans of the former president, with one man heard shouting "support Donald Trump, endorse Donald Trump" at the governor.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines