Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) zeroed in on Disney as the primary obstacle in preventing illegal immigration in the state of Florida calling it a “rodent problem” lobbying for their own benefit.
On a newly released episode of his podcast “Firebrand” Gaetz offered up his take on President Joe Biden’s failure responding to Russian aggression and what may come in Europe before turning to the Walt Disney Company’s dispute with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and the recent legislative session.
“For quite some time in the state of Florida if the Walt Disney Corporation opposed a piece of legislation in the state Capitol, it was deemed to have a fatal rodent problem,” Gaetz explained.
Disney had enormous power in Florida legislative politics, in part because they employed an army of lobbyists to dole out millions of dollars in political donations.
But everything is going to change now…for the better. pic.twitter.com/n3OsA20zxm
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) March 18, 2022
“Disney had enormous power in Florida legislative politics,” he went on describing how their opposition was enough to prevent bills from becoming law. This was enforced by millions of dollars spent on lobbyists for which “in exchange, they expected favorable treatment from lawmakers.”
In discussing the favorable treatment that Florida has provided Disney throughout the years, Gaetz stated the reason his state doesn’t have stronger laws against illegal immigration is because Disney “loves that it puts downward pressure on wages.”
Gaetz remarked on the Sunshine State’s efforts to “bend over backwards” for Disney throughout the years, including their state-subsidized “Visit Florida” marketing campaign that promotes the popular theme park through “corporate welfare.”
“Florida created an entire municipality, a city, just to give infrastructure grants to Disney, directly, on Disney property,” he detailed.
Now that Disney has taken such strong opposition to the recently passed Parental Rights in Education legislation, Gaetz believes things are going to change.
The lawmaker brought up Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s vehement apology to his outraged staff that he hadn’t spoken out more against the law that has been misnomered the “Don’t Say Gay” bill when it says nothing of the sort. Rather the bill is designed to ensure age-appropriate education, especially in kindergarten through third grade.
This didn’t stop Chapek from kowtowing to the woke mob within his company and suspending all political donations. Gaetz perceives this as a positive step forward as their lobbying dollars will not be exerting pressure on the legislature.
While there remains the possibility of Disney restarting their political donations to the GOP as their current practices are under “review,” the fact remains that the most recent legislative session, along with the leadership of Gov. DeSantis, continued to make strides in areas long dominated by progressive agendas.
On the matter of immigration, the Florida House successfully passed a bill (SB 1808) that expands upon the banning of sanctuary cities. It specifically prohibits government agencies from engaging in contracts with transportation companies “if the carrier is willfully providing any service in furtherance of transporting a person into the state of Florida knowing that the person is an unauthorized alien, except to facilitate the detention, removal or deportation of the person.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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