Ron DeSantis pushes to have Disney trial after 2024 election

Ron DeSantis pushes for his lawsuit with Disney after the 2024 presidential election.

His legal team requested that the trial begin in August 2025, a date that would be nearly two years away and would deliver the opening arguments long after voters chose the country’s next commander-in-chief.

Disney, on the other hand, wants the process to begin on July 15, 2024, the same day Republicans meet in Milwaukee to formally elect their party’s next presidential nominee. DeSantis is running for the GOP nomination, but trailing Donald Trump in the polls.

Each party argued for a trial date in a report filed on Tuesday in federal court. It is for a judge to set the timetable.

Disney had sued Florida’s governor to try to reinstate its self-governing status and contracts removed after DeSantis replaced an old board of trustees with his hand-picked one.

DeSantis resisted and additionally filed a motion to dismiss the Disney lawsuit, arguing that he enjoys immunity as a state official.

His lawyers argued that Disney has no authority to sue DeSantis because he does not directly enforce the laws in question, and he has legal immunity that “protects” him from prosecution.

“Disney made headlines by suing the governor. Disney — like many other lawsuits that have challenged Florida laws before — has no basis for doing so,” reads the motion filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

The DeSantis administration is also asking the judge to freeze the federal case because of the motion to dismiss and because a separate lawsuit has been filed against Disney in state court. They say that a state court is the right place for such a legal challenge.

The war between the Republican presidential nominee and the Magic Kingdom has received national attention.

Disney wants the process to begin on July 15, 2024, the same day Republicans meet in Milwaukee to formally elect their party’s next presidential nominee.

DeSantis’ battles against Disney raised his national profile ahead of his formal announcement of a presidential bid. He has also made it part of his war on wake as he makes the culture wars a centerpiece of his strategy.

The clash between DeSantis and Disney began when the company spoke out against the governor’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law — a state law that prohibits classroom discussions of sexual orientation and gender dentity.

As part of that war, DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Florida legislature ended the self-governing privileges Disney World had held since 1967.

To remove Disney’s self-governing power, DeSantis appointed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board to replace the Disney-controlled Reedy Creek Improvement District and oversaw the development of Disney World.

Disney CEO Bob Iger argued that his company faced retaliation in return for speaking out.

“There was no concrete attempt to dismantle Reedy Creek until we acted on legislation,” he said last month. “This is clearly a matter of retaliation.”

Disney’s lawsuit argues that DeSantis’ actions violated the First Amendment and other constitutional rights.