
<p>Floundering Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis’ ongoing battle with Disney got a bit more intense last week.</p>



<p>DeSantis asked a federal judge to throw out Disney’s First Amendment lawsuit, calling it meritless and “a last-ditch effort to reinstate its corporate kingdom.”</p>



<p>“Although Disney has grabbed headlines by suing the Governor, Disney — like many litigants before it who have challenged Florida’s laws — has no basis for doing so,” DeSantis’ motion said.</p>



<p>For its part, Disney filed counterclaims that included asking a state court to declare the original agreements between the company and the state that gave Disney autonomous control over the area of its theme parks valid and enforceable. The company amended those counterclaims last week, saying the now DeSantis-controlled district was in violation of the U.S. Constitution stipulations on contracts and due process.</p>



<p>The war between the House of Mouse and DeSantis started last year when Disney publicly opposed a state law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades, and DeSantis retaliated by taking over the governing district that provides municipal services for the 25,000-acre Disney World theme park resort in Florida.</p>



<p><strong>DeSantis and Maher Trade Jabs</strong></p>



<p>Meanwhile, the Florida governor got into a heated on-air tussle with Bill Maher. The liberal-leaning host said that DeSantis is foolish to be running now because he is so much younger than either Biden or Trump. He has decades where he could run clean and not in Trump&#8217;s shadow.</p>



<p>&#8220;You could run for the next 20 years. If you were Biden, the next 40,&#8221; Maher quipped. &#8220;Why run against Trump? You&#8217;re trying to thread this needle that will never happen. You can&#8217;t disavow him because that&#8217;s the base, and yet you&#8217;re running against him. And that&#8217;s why, I mean, let&#8217;s face it, Ron, if the campaign was going well, you wouldn&#8217;t be on this show.&#8221;</p>



<p>&#8220;Oh, that&#8217;s not true,&#8221; DeSantis reacted. &#8220;One: I don&#8217;t think he can win the election. I could win the election. Two: I don&#8217;t think he could actually get the job done that we need to do, For example, COVID. I think we need accountability for what this government did to this country with the COVID restrictions, mandates and lockdowns. Donald Trump is not gonna do that… He&#8217;s not going to clean house at CDC, NIH, FDA. I will do that. I will get the job done.&#8221;</p>



<p>While DeSantis is maintaining his lead among his non-Trump rivals, he has lost a lot of ground over the course of the year, peaking at over 30% support in March. Despite his absence from the debates so far, Trump has kept his commanding lead, averaging roughly 58% support.</p>

DeSantis’ War With Disney Heats Up!
