Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley had a cheeky suggestion for The Walt Disney Co. after it announced it was suing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: Move to my state instead.
On Wednesday, Disney announced it was suing the likely GOP presidential candidate for engaging in a retaliatory effort it says “threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.”
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Although Disney is a huge economic force in Florida, DeSantis didn’t like it when the corporation objected to a law forbidding discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in some classrooms.
He reacted by seizing control of Walt Disney World’s self-governing district and appointing five hand-picked supervisors to the district’s governing board.
Haley, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination, spoke about the lawsuit to Fox News on Wednesday and later tweeted out the clip with a note letting Disney know her state would be happy to talk if things with Florida don’t work out.
“Hey [Disney], my home state will happily accept your 70,000+ jobs if you want to leave Florida,” she wrote, adding that South Carolina is “not woke, but we’re not sanctimonious about it either.”
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The tweet was undoubtedly a dig at DeSantis, who currently has the support of 31% of Republicans despite not having officially declared, according to an NBC News poll this month.
Haley, by comparison, only has 3% support, according to the same poll.
Based on the reaction of some conservatives, her bid for Disney’s attention may not increase that number. Right-wing commentators Dana Loesch and Matt Walsh, for example, both accused Haley of running to “the left” of DeSantis.
However, some suspected that Haley’s tweet was targeted not at Republican voters, but toward former President Donald Trump, who famously attempted to insult DeSantis by calling him “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
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