Chris Christie criticizes 2024 rival Ron DeSantis' 'small' fight with Disney World: 'Does that prove you're really a tough guy?'

• Christie cited DeSantis' battle with Disney as the GOP aiming "small," in the "Ruthless" podcast.
• Such battles wouldn't bring about "permanent" change and could easily be undone, he said.

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie dunked on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week over his bitter crusade against Walt Disney World as an example of the party wasting its time on "small" political issues.

Republicans, he said, should instead be "arguing about and being daring" on policies involving China, economic security, reducing the import of petroleum, and expanding charter schools.

"What we are wasting our time on is talking about, 'Is it OK for Disney to oppose a bill in Florida and should they be penalized for it? And does that prove you're really a tough guy or does it just prove that you're not conservative in terms of the way you think government should operate?" the former New Jersey governor told the "Ruthless" podcast in an interview that aired Monday, without using DeSantis' name.

When one of the podcasts hosts pushed back, saying the Disney issue was animating the right, Christie responded with: "I just don't think it's big. I think that it's important, but it's not going to change the course of the country."

Many of the policies Republicans are focusing on can be "reversed when someone comes in with a different political philosophy." They should instead focus on "permanent, sustainable, systemic change," he said.

"We should pay attention to it, we should be talking about it, but it's not what we should stake a presidency on," he said.

Christie isn't the first 2024 candidate to criticize DeSantis' fight with Walt Disney World, which started in 2021 when executives pledged to lobby for the repeal of a law that severely limits when and how LGBTQ+ topics can be taught in Florida public schools.

The DeSantis campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment to Christie's criticisms. DeSantis is a distant second to Trump but is still the only Republican candidate polling in the double digits in the primary so far.

He has pledged not to back down from the fight with the family-friendly resort and theme park and talks about it at nearly every campaign stop. DeSantis accused the company of "trying to shove an agenda" down families' throats by opposing the schools law.

"We run the state of Florida," he said last month. "They do not run the state of Florida. It is wrong to sexualize children, it's wrong to put it in your programming, and it's wrong to try to force that in our schools."

As retribution for its opposition to the schools law, the governor acted with the legislature to try to take away special privileges Disney had in Florida for decades, ones that other theme parks don't enjoy and that save the resort and theme park time and money when it comes to building new rides and other operations.

With the help of board members he appointed, DeSantis floated numerous changes to Disney's area, from building a state prison on bordering land, to imposing new taxes, tolls, and ride regulations. Disney retaliated in several ways, including by trying to create a loophole to retain power and finally suing in federal court.

DeSantis also passed policies into law that coincide with the policies Christie cited, such as making school vouchers universally available in Florida.

The Disney pile on has been a lead topic of the 2024 primary

Though Christie said he views the Disney fight as a distraction from bigger issues, it continues to play prominently in the Republican primary.

2024 frontrunner former President Donald Trump released a video on Truth Social last month bashing the DeSantis-Disney battle as "very unfortunate" for Florida's economy after the company scrapped plans for a new campus in the Sunshine State.

"Look at Disney and what a mess it is," Trump said. "He could have worked out an easy settlement but he wanted to show the fake news how tough a guy he is. He's not."

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who is also running for the GOP nomination, implored Disney World to relocate to South Carolina, saying the state where she previously served as governor would welcome the theme park's business. Disney is Florida's biggest tourist attraction and employs 80,000 people.

But Disney is unpopular with GOP primary voters, shows polling and leaked audio from the DeSantis campaign.

An April Reuters/Ipsos poll found 64% of Republicans said DeSantis was right to roll back Disney's special privileges. Another recent poll, from Harvard CAPS/Harris, found 73% of Republicans and 54% of Independents support the governor limiting Disney's autonomy in Florida.

DeSantis previously said he thought it was appropriate to use state power "to give space to the individual citizen to be able to participate in society to be able to speak his or her mind," but during his "Ruthless" interview, Christie called for a return to leaving decisions over how to handle corporations to consumers.

Christie cited falling sales of Bud Light after the company partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and the conservative backlash Target faced when it sold Pride-themed merchandise.

"Do we really want governments picking and choosing those things? Because let me tell you, when we open that seal and the Democrats then feel like it's open to doing anything, we're not going to like what the results are," he said.

Later in the podcast, when asked to provide a one-word thought about DeSantis, Christie chose "interesting."