The only thing CNN Newsroom host Jim Acosta and former nominal Republican strategist Ana Navara know about cancel culture is that Republicans claim to be against it. Their ignorance of the issue was illustrated on Acosta’s Saturday show as the duo accused Florida Republicans of hypocritically “cancelling” Disney by revoking its special tax status.
Using the left’s false framing of Florida’s new parental rights law, Acosta was sure he has seen Republican hypocrisy, “Ana, I have to talk to you about what’s going on in your state of Florida. The governor there, Ron DeSantis, is punishing Disney for opposing this so-called Don't Say Gay law. Aren't Republicans supposed to be against cancel culture?”
Acosta was also confused why any politician would choose to go after Disney, “The other thing that stands out to me, as somebody who's been to Disney World a lot with my family, I just can't imagine a Florida politician going after Walt Disney World. What do you make of all this?”
Navarro naturally agreed, calling the move “really insane.” She then wondered how anyone who considers themselves a Republican could possibly support the move, “the CEO issued a statement about a bill that many of his employees had huge concerns about. He didn't show up at the capitol with an army of Mickey Mouses dressed in rainbow platform heels. He made a statement. And that statement should be covered by freedom of speech. And so if you are a pro-freedom of speech, against canceling, pro-business Republican, I don't know how you justify hostage taking.”
Navarro also equated the decision with “political hostage taking and political blackmail for speaking up about a concern of their employees.”
Later on in her rant, Navarro would accuse Republicans of being hypocrites because Disney has traditionally been one of their biggest donors and “In the meantime, they haven't done a damn thing to reform condo laws so that condo buildings don't collapse in the middle of the night, killing and trapping people inside.”
For ill-informed at CNN, Disney isn’t cancelled. It still very much exists in Florida and isn’t going anywhere, they still have freedom of speech, but now that it has decided to wander out of its lane and advocate for unrelated left-wing causes using false talking points, it can play by the same set of rules as other corporations.
This segment was sponsored by Lexus
Here is a transcript for the April 23 show:
CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta
4/23/2022
3:34 PM ET
JIM ACOSTA: And Ana, I have to talk to you about what’s going on in your state of Florida. The governor there, Ron DeSantis, is punishing Disney for opposing this so-called Don't Say Gay law. Aren't Republicans supposed to be against cancel culture? What do—what do-- you make of what's been happening with this? We're showing the video right now. He's surrounded by all of these children. The other thing that stands out to me, as somebody who's been to Disney World a lot with my family, I just can't imagine a Florida politician going after Walt Disney World. What do you make of all this?
ANA NAVARRO: It's really—it’s really-- insane. It’s, as a Floridian, I'm frankly horrified by the environment this creates. Listen, it's not like Walt Disney World waged war against this legislation. What they-what they-- did was the CEO issued a statement about a bill that many of his employees had huge concerns about.
He didn't show up at the capitol with an army of Mickey Mouses dressed in rainbow platform heels. He made a statement. And that statement should be covered by freedom of speech. And so if you are a pro-freedom of speech, against canceling, pro-business Republican, I don't know how you justify hostage taking.
Political hostage taking and political blackmail against a corporation for speaking up about a concern of their employees. Disney is one of the largest private employers in the state of Florida. It's got thousands, tens of thousands of employees raising families in this state who care about what happens in their schools.
And, you know, it's such hypocrisy and it's such insanity. It doesn't make political sense. It doesn't make economic sense. Because—because-- guess who's going to get stuck with the tax bill, now after going away and eradicating the special taxing authority. The residents of Osceola and Orange County. They should be paying very close attention to this, but it's also meant to send a chilling message to the entire private sector and business world in Florida.
Tell the CEOs to cower under their desk and not dare speak up against anything that might be a pet cause of the legislature or the governor and that's just wrong. That kind of stifling of freedom of speech by a corporation, by an individual, is absolutely wrong. They're doing it out of spite. They're not even bothering to pretend that this is not punitive action taken against a corporation because of political action.
They're not even bothering to say differently. And it is, it’s bad for the economy. It's bad for the business sector and I think it's just completely anathema against Republican traditional values and also let me remind you that Walt Disney World has been one of the biggest political donors to Republican legislators and the Republican governor and the Republican Party of Florida for decades and decades and decades.
I have gone to countless events in Disney World Parks and in Disney hotels held by the Republican Party of Florida, raising money for them. So I'd like to know if the Republican Party of Florida is going to return all of those donations from Walt Disney World. I'd like to know--
APRIL RYAN: But you know what?
NAVARRO: --what the business sector is going to do to stand in solidarity with Disney World so they are not all silenced and being stifled by—by—by-- a legislature and governor that have, you know, just gone insane with their pettiness.
In the meantime, Floridians can't get home insurance. In the meantime, they haven't done a damn thing to reform condo laws so that condo buildings don't collapse in the middle of the night, killing and trapping people inside. So, it’s irresponsible. it is just craziness, absolute craziness.
