DeSantis Shrugs Off Ken Griffin’s Criticism of His Disney Fight

Ryan Teague Beckwith
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis defended his dispute with the Walt Disney Co. saying he would not back down despite criticism from prominent Republican donor and billionaire Ken Griffin.

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“I’m a leader. I’m not a follower. So we lead, and we do what we think is right, and people can support us or not support us financially, but you should not be led by trying to please very wealthy donors. I’ve never operated that way,” DeSantis said Wednesday in an interview on ABC News Live Prime.

DeSantis was asked about comments from earlier this week from Griffin, the founder of the hedge fund Citadel and market-maker Citadel Securities, questioning the Republican presidential contender’s strategy in the race and calling his clash with Disney, one of Florida’s largest employers, “pointless.”

“It’s been in the press that he’s been upset with us having the tussle with Disney over the school curriculum,” DeSantis said. “We stood for parents’ rights in education and I’m not going to back down from that.

“You want someone that’s going to do what they think is right, is going to stand by that, regardless of some of the fallout that happens,” he added. “Sometimes you’ve got to do the right thing knowing that you may upset some donors, but you know what, that’s what we should expect from our leaders.”

DeSantis has clashed with Disney over the company’s criticism of what opponents call Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, which restricts the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms.

Griffin had signaled support for DeSantis earlier this year, telling Bloomberg in an interview that he would like to see the governor run for president. But he told CNBC in an interview broadcast Monday that he is still undecided on whom he plans to back.

Earlier: Ken Griffin Calls DeSantis’s Fight With Disney ‘Pointless’

“It doesn’t reflect well on the ethos of Florida,” Griffin said of the DeSantis-Disney feud. DeSantis needs to “make it clear to the entire United States of America, Florida is open to companies that want to create jobs,” he added. “The fight with Disney runs counter to that narrative.”

DeSantis has been struggling to steady his campaign which has been hit by series of missteps, staff firings, a leadership shakeup and donor concerns about his spending.

Polls show him continuing to lose ground to former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. The RealClearPolitics average of national polls has Trump leading by over 46 percentage points over DeSantis, his nearest challenger.

Several major GOP donors, including Griffin, have held off on contributing to Trump or DeSantis.

Earlier Wednesday, President Joe Biden told Democratic donors in New York that Trump looks destined to be the Republican nominee in 2024.

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