Ron DeSantis shrugged off criticism from billionaire Republican donor Ken Griffin over the Florida governor’s protracted dispute with Disney.
“I’m a leader. I’m not a follower. So we lead, and we do what we think is right, and people can support us or not support us financially, but you should not be led by trying to please very wealthy donors. I’ve never operated that way,” DeSantis said Wednesday in an interview on “ABC News Live Prime.”
Griffin, the founder and CEO of the hedge fund Citadel, had criticized the Republican presidential contender’s strategy in the race and called his clash with Disney, one of Florida’s largest employers, “pointless.”
“It doesn’t reflect well on the ethos of Florida,” Griffin told CNBC on Monday.
DeSantis needs to “make it clear to the entire United States of America, Florida is open to companies that want to create jobs,” he added. “The fight with Disney runs counter to that narrative.”
Griffin, who has an estimated net worth of $35 billion, was a big supporter of DeSantis during his first term as governor and donated $5 million to a pro-DeSantis PAC in 2021 for his re-election bid, according to state campaign finance records.
The mogul even moved Citadel’s headquarters from Illinois to Florida. However, he has soured on DeSantis, who has been embroiled in a bitter battle with Disney over the media giant’s criticism of Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which restricts the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms.
DeSantis punched back Wednesday.
“It’s been in the press that he’s been upset with us having the tussle with Disney over the school curriculum. We stood for parents’ rights in education and I’m not going to back down from that,” he said.
“You want someone that’s going to do what they think is right, is going to stand by that, regardless of some of the fallout that happens,” he added. “Sometimes you’ve got to do the right thing knowing that you may upset some donors, but you know what, that’s what we should expect from our leaders.”
DeSantis has been struggling to steady his presidential campaign, which has been marred by missteps, staff firings and concerns about his spending.
He continues to slip in the polls, losing ground to former President Donald Trump, who is currently the front-runner for the GOP nomination.
Griffin has held off from contributing to either Trump or DeSantis.
“I’m still on the sidelines as to who to support in this election cycle,” Griffin told CNBC. “Look, if I had my dream, we’d have a great Republican candidate in the primary who was younger, of a different generation, with a different tone for America. And we’d have a younger person on the Democratic side in the primary, who would have his message for our country.”
This story originally appeared on NYPost
