Nikki Haley Invites Disney To Move To South Carolina Amid Battle With Ron DeSantis

Former South Carolina Gov. and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley invited Disney to move to South Carolina amid its prolonged feud with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday.

Disney sued DeSantis Wednesday for advancing a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” against the corporation after a year-long battle with the governor where he stripped the “Corporate Kingdom” of its special privileges. Haley took aim at the Florida governor — who is widely expected to run for president — and toyed at the idea of bringing Disney to her home state, according to a Fox News interview.

“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’ll be happy to meet them in South Carolina and introduce them to the governor and the Legislature that would welcome it,” Haley told Fox News Wednesday.

Haley continued her jab at DeSantis on Twitter, and said South Carolina isn’t “woke” or “sanctimonious,” a play on former President Donald Trump’s nickname for the Florida governor, “Ron DeSanctimonious.”

“As governor I took a double-digit unemployment state and I turned it into an economic powerhouse,” said Haley. “Businesses were my partners, because if you take care of your businesses, you take care of your economy, your economy takes care of the people, and everyone wins.”

Never Back Down, the DeSantis-aligned political action committee that is tasked with drafting the governor to run for president, responded to Haley’s remarks on Twitter.

“Embracing woke corporations and copying Trump’s lame attack at the same time? Someone’s trying really hard to audition for VP!” the PAC stated.

The Disney-DeSantis battle began last year when the corporation slammed the governor’s Parental Rights in Education Bill, which critics called the “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” and claimed it wasn’t inclusive to the LGBTQ community. The governor signed legislation in late February to revoke the corporation of its self-governing rights and established a state control board to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the company’s special tax district.

The corporation anticipated DeSantis’ move, and quickly made last-minute agreements to grant Disney developmental rights and privileges, which would require the governor’s state control board to seek consent before making changes. In response, DeSantis introduced legislation on April 17 to nullify Disney’s efforts.

DeSantis’ team did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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