On Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC banded together under the banner of corporate liberalism to rally behind ABC’s parent company/“economic heavy-hitter” Disney and even some 2024 GOP presidential candidates against Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) for having created a “long-running feud” and “power struggle” for Florida supremacy.
So as not to lose their jobs, ABC’s newscasts were stenographers for the people who sign their paychecks. World News Tonight anchor David Muir boasted in a tease: “Our parent company, Disney tonight filing a lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, accusing the governor of a ‘targeted campaign of government retaliation.’”
Chief business correspondent Rebecca Jarvis played Disney spokeswoman, making no mention of how DeSantis was under no obligation to keep the crony capitalistic arrangement Disney had (click “expand”):
JARVIS: Tonight, Disney suing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, alleging he’s waging “a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain state officials.” That viewpoint, Disney’s vocal opposition to DeSantis’s Parental Rights in Education law —
PROTESTERS [in March 2022]: We say gay! We say gay!
JARVIS: — that critics have called Don’t Say Gay, prohibiting classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity. Shortly after the public criticism, the Republican governor and allies moving to end Disney’s special status in central Florida that essentially allowed the company to self-govern the area around Walt Disney World since the late 1960s. Disney, the parent company of ABC News, is one of the state’s largest taxpayers and Disney World is the largest single site employer in the country. Disney, filing its suit just minutes after a new board of DeSantis appointees overseeing the district voted to invalidate a set of development agreements made earlier this year, something DeSantis had promised to do.
(....)
JARVIS: Disney alleging “a targeted campaign of government retaliation” is threatening its business operations and jeopardizing its economic future in Florida. During a recent shareholder call, Disney CEO Bob Iger saying DeSantis’s action “seek to punish a company for its exercise of a constitutional right and that just seems really wrong to me.”
And, as a way to suggest DeSantis was unpopular in the GOP, she touted presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s invitation for Disney to move to South Carolina.
Thursday’s Good Morning America wasn’t any better. Co-host Michael Strahan trumpeted “Disney versus DeSantis,” in a tease like someone with RT talking about Putin: “Why the parent company of ABC News is suing the Florida governor and other state officials. How Ron DeSantis is responding and what led to this.”
Jarvis was back with a few tweaks from her report hours earlier, starting with the proclamation that DeSantis dared to disagree with “one of the largest employers in central Florida” and “could harm the business and its future in the state.”
She also suffered a mini-meltdown over what was clearly a joke from DeSantis before recovering to close by suggesting DeSantis has no chance (click “expand”):
JARVIS: DeSantis floating the idea of developing the land around Disney, even suggesting a state prison.
DESANTIS: People have said, you know, maybe have another — maybe create a state park, maybe try to do more amusement parks. Someone even said, like, maybe you need another state prison. Who knows?
JARVIS: DeSantis responding to the suit in comments this morning.
DESANTIS: I don’t think the suit has merit. I think it’s political. [SCREEN WIPE] We’re very confident on the law.
JARVIS: Disney’s CEO Bob Iger addressing DeSantis’s actions in a recent call with shareholders.
BOB IGER: The governor got very angry about the position Disney took and seems like he’s decided to retaliate against us. In effect to seek to punish a company for its exercising of a constitutional right and that just seems really wrong to me.
JARVIS: So, now that he is going to a federal court in Florida with Disney arguing its constitutional rights are being violated. Legal experts say that the court is known for being conservative, but also one that doesn’t take kindly to a government entity trying to control a private business.
NBCUniversal property NBC Nightly News was willing to help. Anchor Lester Holt cheered Disney as “firing back” to create “a dramatic new chapter” in DeSantis’s “ongoing feud” with the Mouse house.
NBC’s Today co-host Hoda Kotb trumpeted the suit in a tease: “Disney versus DeSantis. The theme park giant filing a major lawsuit against Florida’s governor. The latest in their ongoing culture battle.”
Correspondent Gabe Gutierrez, who’s traveling with DeSantis in Israel, proclaimed Disney’s action “could be overshadowing this trip....crisscross[ing] the globe on a trade mission to Japan, South Korea, Israel, and the U.K. aiming to attract jobs to Florida”.
“The federal suit announced just moments after a panel of DeSantis allies voted to invalidate Disney’s decades-old deal with Florida that gives it self-governance as part of a tax district. DeSantis’s feud with Disney has dramatically escalated since the entertainment giant opposed the Parental Rights in Education Act which critics dubbed the Don’t Say Gay bill last year,” Gutierrez added, also taking the stance as though the agreement is sacrosanct.
He played a soundbite of this fastball he threw overnight at DeSantis: “You touted your record, of course, bringing jobs to Florida. Main employer in your state now is coming back and saying that you are anti-business in this new lawsuit. What’s your response to that?”
Gutierrez was also eager to frame DeSantis as on an island as Haley and former President Trump join Disney in piling on (click “expand”):
GUTIERREZ: But some prominent Republicans are slamming DeSantis with picking a fight with Mickey Mouse.
NIKKI HALEY [on FNC’s America Reports]: If Disney would like to move their hundreds of thousands of jobs to South Carolina and bring the billions of dollars with them, I’ll let them know I’d be happy to meet them in South Carolina.
GUTIERREZ: Former President Trump’s campaign also blasting the governor’s overseas trip, releasing this calendar graphic showing the days DeSantis has been away from Florida.
DESANTIS [on 04/24/23]: I always had a good relationship with him. And then, once the midterm election happened, he started taking shots at me.
Following a news brief on Wednesday’s CBS Evening News, Thursday’s CBS Mornings went all-in for Disney. Over two teases, co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King promised a segment on “the power struggle” and “battle...heating up” with DeSantis against Disney.
Socialist co-host Tony Dokoupil similarly framed the suit as a “long-running feud...now headed to court” with Disney alleging a First Amendment rights violation.
After a decade-plus of belly-aching about Citizens United, the liberal media have decided corporations are, indeed....people?
Florida-based correspondent Manuel Bojorquez added his two cents: “In its suit, Disney calls the board’s decision ‘patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional.’ DeSantis has called Disney’s opposition to the [Parent Rights in Education Act] out of line[.]”
Bojorquez put his thumb on the scales by touting Disney as “a heavy economic hitter in Florida” as a by-product of being “the largest taxpayer in the state, employ[ing] more than 75,000 people there, and” being “a major driver of tourism with “company project[ing] it will draw around 50 million visitors to Florida this year.”
He wrapped by turning to a CBS News legal contributor to also proclaim DeSantis is toast: “I think there is something there to Disney’s argument...It seemed like everything was fine in terms of how Disney was being treated until they started criticizing the government. That’s where you get that freedom of speech claim.”
The liberal media playing whores for corporate liberalism was made possible thanks to advertisers such as ADT (on the CBS Evening News), Angi (on ABC’s World News Tonight), Citi (on NBC’s Today), Consumer Cellular (on CBS Mornings), Jergens (on ABC’s Good Morning America), and Liberty Mutual (on NBC Nightly News). Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcripts from April 26 and 27, click here (for ABC’s World News Tonight), here (for the CBS Evening News), here (for NBC Nightly News), here (for ABC’s Good Morning America), here (for CBS Mornings), and here (for NBC’s Today).
