DeSantis won the first round against Disney: He should have walked away

When Elsa, the Disney princess from “Frozen,” sang her 2013 smash hit, “Let It Go,” she didn’t know that she was offering excellent advice to the future governor of Florida. 

For a while, the Disney vs. DeSantis feud appeared to be over. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) had made his point. He taught Disney a lesson about the cost of wading too deep into the culture wars. It was inevitable, of course, that Disney would push back, as it did last month with a maneuver to regain control of a key development board. 

But this should have been little more than a 24-hour news story. If DeSantis had let it go, he would have walked away a winner. Instead, the governor turned his battle against Disney into a war — one that will cost him, and the state, in untold ways.

To understand the extent of DeSantis’s miscalculation, let’s look at the historical context.

In the 1960s, Walt Disney, already one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, had a vision for a theme park. He could have taken this vision anywhere, but he set his sights on central Florida. Until then, Orlando was little more than a small military town surrounded by swampland. It didn’t exactly call out to tourists. Walt Disney saw the potential to drain that swamp and build a magical new world.

He approached the government of Florida to make a deal. This was a time when confidentiality, trust and good faith were the ingredients of every good business arrangement. Disney made the case that he needed to maintain control over this new world because it would be radically different from almost any other development in history. Florida agreed to take a chance on the deal, and it paid off brilliantly.

Today, Disney is an economic and cultural superpower, among the largest private employers in Florida and a lynchpin in our state’s economic success and global reputation. Cinderella’s Castle in the Magic Kingdom may as well be a billboard for Florida, sending a message to other businesses about what can be achieved in the Sunshine State.

Now, DeSantis is going back on Florida’s word, which has been honored on a bipartisan basis for decades, purely for his own selfish ends. The feud with Disney is a warning to companies large and small that DeSantis’s political vendettas trump good faith, fairness and even the economic interests of his constituents. This is not a good trait for a presidential aspirant, least of all a Republican who should be for free markets and capitalism.

DeSantis has gone so far as to suggest building a new state prison next to Disney World since Florida owns some of the land around the park. If this sounds spiteful and unhinged to you, you aren’t alone. Ken Griffin, a billionaire investor and DeSantis megadonor, has expressed concern that the feud could “look like retaliation.” Public perception in some areas of Florida is also changing in favor of Disney.

How will this end for DeSantis? Well, it would be one thing if Bob Chapek were still Disney’s CEO. DeSantis might have a shot. Instead, he finds himself playing one-on-one against the Lebron James of CEOs.

When Disney had its “return of the king” moment, a smart leader would have taken the opportunity to invite Bob Iger to the governor’s mansion, reiterate the point about parental rights and then extend a hand and start fresh. Instead, DeSantis made an enemy of one of the all-time greats.

While the court battles are just beginning, DeSantis has, in many ways, already lost. He appears unhinged, nasty and vindictive just as the presidential race is coming into focus, leading many Republicans to wonder: How is this guy different from Trump? Not surprisingly, his primary rivals are seizing on the moment to attack him as a loser.

Ultimately, however, the real losers are the people of Florida. DeSantis’s battle against the “Mouse” has damaged our reputation as a pro-business state, distracted from more important issues and could come with steep economic costs.

A year from now, if the fallout continues, we will all find ourselves wishing that DeSantis had taken Elsa’s advice.

Philip Levine, a cruise industry entrepreneur, is a former two-term mayor of Miami Beach and onetime Democratic candidate for governor of Florida.