Presidential candidate Nikki Haley voiced her support for Disney during an interview with Fox News on Wednesday by saying she would be happy to introduce them to the governor and state legislature so they could relocate Disney World.
Disney announced a lawsuit against the state of Florida for revoking their special district, which was revoked after the company publicly stated they were against the state law that prevents teachers from talking with their students about gender and sexual theories.
"This is obviously dramatically escalating the feud between Disney and Ron DeSantis. They’re alleging that Republican governor has waged a ‘relentless campaign to weaponize government power over the company.’ What is your reaction to that, as we still have yet to see him jump officially into the race?” Fox News anchor Sandra Smith asked.
"You know, as governor, I took a double digit unemployment state and I turned it into an economic powerhouse. Businesses were my partners, because if you take care of your businesses, you take care of your economy, your economy takes care of your people and everyone wins. So, that’s the way we dealt with it," Haley said.
"South Carolina was a very anti-woke state, it still is. And if Disney would like to move their hundreds of thousands of jobs to South Carolina and bring the billions of dollars with ’em, I’ll let them know I’ll be happy to meet them in South Carolina and introduce them to the governor and the legislature that would welcome it," she added.
On Twitter, Haley went a step further by saying South Carolina is "not woke, but we’re not sanctimonious about it either."
Hey @Disney, my home state will happily accept your 70,000+ jobs if you want to leave Florida.
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) April 26, 2023
We’ve got great weather, great people, and it’s always a great day in South Carolina!
SC’s not woke, but we’re not sanctimonious about it either. pic.twitter.com/uf1PWQjGc5
In response, a senior aide to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis shared a clip of him bashing corporatism.
A senior DeSantis aide texts this clip from his Heritage speech:
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) April 26, 2023
“It’s not conservative to simply defer to every corporation in America. That's being a corporatist.”
Earlier today Nikki Haley invited Disney to leave Florida for South Carolina
pic.twitter.com/s1tu789q1a