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DeSantis taunts Disney and the prez at GOP summit, Florida businesses sue for the right to conduct diversity training, Publix heiress donates dollars to anti-LGBTQ group, mass shooting scares at CityWalk and Florida Mall, and other news you may have missed last week.

» Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis taunts the Walt Disney Co., infectious disease experts, and the current president of the United States

As he draws increased attention as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, Gov. Ron DeSantis focused heavily last Saturday night on President Joe Biden while rallying Republicans for this year’s elections. Twice in the first minute after taking the stage for a dinner speech at the Republican Party of Florida’s Sunshine Summit, DeSantis tossed out the name “Brandon,” a derogatory reference to Biden, as he contrasted Florida’s recovery from the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic to current federal economic policies. DeSantis drew cheers at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Broward County when he compared Biden to a “stumbling” deer in the headlights unable to use a teleprompter and then facetiously wished the president well after testing positive for COVID-19. “We should all extend our best wishes to President Joe Biden for a speedy recovery from his bout with COVID,” DeSantis set up the crowd. “And hopefully, the United States will have a speedy recovery from its bout with Joe Biden.” DeSantis also drew another big crowd reaction when he brought up his clash with Walt Disney Co. The governor has made the entertainment giant a centerpiece in his fight against “woke” ideology, pushing through legislation this spring to dissolve a special taxing district that benefits Walt Disney Co. That move came after Disney opposed a controversial new law that restricts teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools — a measure that critics dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. “Big companies based in California do not run the state of Florida,” DeSantis said.

» Neo-Nazis showed up at Turning Point USA summit at Tampa

Convention Center

The second day of Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit brought neo-Nazis to downtown’s Tampa Convention Center. The extremist groups arrived after more than 100 protesters marched from Lykes Gaslight Square Park to the convention center to speak out against recent actions by the Supreme Court, especially the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The neo-Nazis waved swastika flags, along with flags that read “DeSantis Country” and distributed flyers, one of which said “every single aspect of abortion is Jewish.” The flyers were marked as distributed by the Goyim Defense League, which the Anti-Defamation League describes as an extremist terrorist organization that was responsible for at least 74 anti-Semitic propaganda incidents in 2021. Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said TPUSA had no idea who the Nazi groups were or why they turned up outside the convention. “They have nothing to do with TPUSA, our event, or our students. Our students took the mature route and vacated the space the Nazi flag holders were in. Once that happened, they left,” Kolvet said, adding that TPUSA students also argued with the Nazis before disengaging. Florida has seen a rise in fascist activity in recent months. The Nazi group Atomwaffen assaulted civilians in February during an Orlando demonstration, and a neo-Nazi group made a bomb threat in Daytona Beach in January.

» Florida businesses sue to provide diversity training to their employees without running afoul of ‘anti-WOKE’ laws

The plaintiffs in the case are Primo Tampa, LLC, a Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream franchisee; Honeyfund.com, Inc., a Clearwater-based technology company that provides wedding registries; and Chevara Orrin and her company, Collective Concepts, LLC. Orrin and her company provide consulting and training to employers about issues such as diversity, equity and inclusion. The businesses filed the lawsuit June 22 and subsequently requested a preliminary injunction against the law, which they said violates their ability to discuss issues such as racism and implicit bias with employees. “The act silences speech aimed at combating racism and sexism — speech that is vital to the plaintiffs’ operation of their businesses,” the June 30 preliminary-injunction request said. “The governor, and the Florida Legislature acting at his behest, has repeatedly sought to punish companies who have engaged in speech that displeases him, in flagrant violation of the First Amendment. Because Governor DeSantis is not a monarch, but rather a democratically elected official, the Stop WOKE Act cannot stand.” Disputing that restrictions on race-related workplace training violate the First Amendment, the state is asking a federal judge to toss out a challenge by businesses to a law that Gov. Ron DeSantis dubbed the “Stop WOKE Act.” Attorneys for the state last week filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit and to prevent a preliminary injunction. The law, which took effect July 1, targets how race-related concepts are addressed in workplace training and school classrooms, with DeSantis touting it as preventing “indoctrination.” The state’s motions contended that the law does not violate the First Amendment because it only bars businesses from requiring employees to take part in training programs that use the targeted concepts. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker has scheduled an Aug. 8 hearing on the preliminary-injunction request.

» Publix heiress gave $50,000 to anti-LGBTQ PAC Moms for Liberty

Publix inheritances and donating to ultra-conservative organizations go together like a Pub Sub and a black & white cookie. Once again, Julie Jenkins Fancelli is donating big bucks to support the radical wing of the Republican party. The heiress of the Lakeland-based grocery chain donated $50,000 to Moms for Liberty in June, the first major contribution to this political action committee. Moms for Liberty is a Floridabased parental advocacy group that pushes to make public schooling worse for LGBTQ children. Playing into recent GOP talking points, they push against accurate accounts of history and discussions of queer issues. Their ideology of “not co-parenting with government” gained momentum during the height of the pandemic, as they disagreed with mask mandates in schools. Campaign records show the PAC spent Fancelli’s donation to contribute to local school board candidates’ campaigns. Florida Republicans have spent the last several years pushing to ban books and disallowing transgender youths from participating in sports. Fancelli has landed in hot water over her political donations in the past. Text messages revealed that she helped finance the “Stop the Steal” rally at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. That rally devolved into a riot when supporters of Donald Trump stormed the halls of Congress.

» Universal Orlando’s CityWalk evacuated after shooting scare late

Saturday night

Late Saturday night Universal Orlando’s CityWalk was evacuated after an active shooter scare. According to police, several “juveniles” got into a fight in one of the park’s garages, and the ensuing noise and shouting led to panic that there was an active shooter in the area. Videos shared by park guests across social media show people running as they try to find safety. The Orlando Police Department stated via Twitter just after midnight that night that there were “NO shots fired & NO injuries reported” in the incident, and that they only evacuated CityWalk out of an “an abundance of caution.” No arrests were made. The incident at Universal came on the same weekend that Orlando’s Florida Mall experienced a similar active shooter scare inside the building, which turned out to be what police believe were just fireworks.