According to CNBC, Disney is one of several corporations being scrutinized for donating funds to politicians who are now backing laws that are more restrictive towards voting. Disney has contributed more than $8,000 to the campaigns of three Florida lawmakers who are now sponsoring bills that would restrict voting access.
Florida is one of several states who are making a push for new voting laws to be put in place following the 2020 election, which saw Joe Biden defeat President Donald Trump. Trump postured that voter fraud was the cause of his loss, which has seemingly spurred bills like this into motion.
Disney did not comment on whether or not it will continue to back these lawmakers or if it is planning to lobby against the bills. Each of bills contains potential hurdles for voters and election officials if they are passed into law.
Since 2015, Disney has contributed $28,000 to various Florida state senators backing a bill that could suppress the vote according to The Public Citizen report.
With these types of bills flowing through state legislatures across the country, critics say that corporations have to go further than putting out statements and hold back on campaign contributions.
“Look at the deadly riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the refusal to accept the election results, followed by the legislation to restrict the ability to vote. That has really stirred up people,” said Bruce Freed, the president of the nonpartisan Center for Political Accountability, which tracks corporate money in politics. “Companies are ensnared in it because of the money they gave politically. They are seen as enabling it with their contributions.”
Duh
Since when should the citizens of this country be governed by corporations and idiotic organizations like the “Center for Political Accountability”?
How is it governing when an organization wants to make sure voting isn’t restricted?
Ya but didn’t the Walt Disney company support Biden and the Democrats?
Unless Disney plans to do away with photo identification for ticket or pass holders, or biometric readers at the gates, they better keep their mouth shut on this one if they intend to start the now-obligatory virtue signaling other corporations have adopted.
Guess they only way Republicans can win is by keeping people away from the polls.
Snowflakes.
Producing an ID to verify identity is not cheating. We need to do that for most anything we do in life!
Make up your mind ! Whose side are you on ??? Old saying, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” Too much in question not to believe there was some funny stuff going on.
Since when does a Disney World news site that posts about ride refurbishments and Epcot food post a controversial article about politics. This is our escape from the craziness of politics and now we need to hear that God forbid Disney donated to the campaign of a republican.
We post any and all company news.
That’s not news. And you should keep an ENTERTAINMENT site just that.
It’s a news site about an entertainment company. The entertainment company did this action, thus we report it. When own the site, you can decide the scope of the coverage, but we always cover every angle of this company.
Yeah well count yourself one less reader. I don’t come here to read politics and I’m fairly certain many other people don’t either.
Yeah, I’m not going to change the scope of the coverage nor omit stories by threat, so good riddance. There’s 100 bad WDWNT knockoff sites you can enjoy.
Two questions:
Do you take this stance against these voting integrity bills because you have the temerity to think that POC are too stupid to be able to produce an ID in order to vote?
Also: should this site be expressing political views in its articles, especially racist ones?
The story is presented with no commentary. I wish people would read articles before commenting.
This article is still politically driven and shows the author’s opinion by him posting this.
That’s not how news works sir.
The fact that you chose to publish the story is, in and of itself, a commentary. The headline alone makes your intent crystal clear. How about you stick to ride and park updates and stay the hell away from politics?
The tone not your response is unnecessary as well
You think anyone who publishes a story you don’t like is against you, I’m not going to base what news is published on your feelings. That’s unethical. I’m sorry, this is news and not commentary.
Seriously?! This article is FULL of commentary!
You have no idea what commentary is then. Those are facts and a quote that does not choose a side. Everyone needs to get over it, both sides. This is a news story about the company we cover, the immaturity to not want to hear anything you don’t want to is scary.
This is is not news, news reports both sides, this does not. No mention of how much was donated to dems or what is in the bills that makes them restrictive. No NEWS just partisan fluff
This isn’t a side, it’s information. Information doesn’t take sides.
I did and found it very biased. I thought u were neutral unlike other Disney news sites. It was refreshing til this article.
No one is taking a side. I don’t know how much clearer we can make this.
I love that Tom is getting Ratioed on his own site. It’s just like twitter
Does it matter? They’re a corporation, not a government. Disney and the rest of the companies in America should focus on providing a quality product and/or service to the general public (ESPECIALLY in Disney’s case with Bob Chapek in power) instead of trying to take a stand politically and telling people how they should think or vote. This kind of thinking today, that things and entities that were not originally intended to be political should be, is going to run this nation into the ground and make people’s lives less enjoyable.
Everything is political. You wouldnt have WDW as it is today without Disney being involved in politics.
The politics I assume you’re referring to is when Walt negotiated with the local and state Governments at the time to get the necessary legal clearance needed to properly build, operate, and grow Walt Disney World. That was not Disney trying to sway the general public to think the way he does because he just simply wanted them to, that was him working to create his dream and allow his company to provide a quality product – which is something the CEO’s of today seem to not want to do anymore.
Shameful.
Surprise, surprise…my comment voted down.
Most companies play both sides of the fence when it comes to campaign contributions. Not saying that’s how it should be, but it’s definitely how it is. And I can understand (not condone, but understand) why they do.
What I think will be important is what Disney chooses to do now.
“Restrict voting access” AKA require photo ID to vote.
Can comments just be turned off on WDWNT? I’m always disappointed by the Disney community when I see the hate in the comments section of this site. There are lots of places for people to fight and a Disney news site shouldn’t be one of those.
They’ll just do it on Facebook and twitter then. I just wouldn’t scroll down that far.
Why the politics? This article should be left to news sites. Disney always asks for Florida ID is when purchasing a Florida annual pass.
We report on The Walt Disney Company, so we post stories that concern them. That’s how this works.
Ok, I see a lot of people going after Tom and WDWNT for this article. I think it’s time someone defends them in this case.
(Please read my whole comment before attempting to flame me if you disagree – I wish to be spared! lol)
I personally believe that it is stupid that companies have so much of a say in our political environment today, and believe they should focus on providing a quality product and/or service as opposed to attempting to constantly sway the political landscape and be “woke”. If they continue down this path, I think that American companies will start to make less progress in their respective fields, and therefore bring our country and economy down as a result… not to mention that it will just make people’s lives less enjoyable overall.
That being said, after reading this article I don’t see how Justin, or anyone else at WDWNT, put any commentary on the matter at hand that they are reporting on. It seems to be to the point and factual, with them mainly just citing what CNBC had reported on this issue. The ONLY time I saw any sort of political stance being taken by WDWNT in this article, was with the title – specifically when they described the new voting bills as “restrictive”. I think that if WDWNT were to change that part of the title to read something like “…who are now sponsoring sweeping voting reforms“, then that would be more of a politically neutral, yet still intriguing title.
I agree with what Tom has been saying in the comment section; that WDWNT really is just reporting on the news that is circulating about the Walt Disney Corporation. That being said, I think that CNBC wasting their time reporting on the matter is utterly stupid and is just them looking for some more news to spur up some unneeded drama like most mainstream news outlets do nowadays.
Before people jump WDWNT. Disney Donates to like, literally all political candidates in Florida. On both sides.
Which they should stop doing, but that’s my opinion.
Good you should need a Vailed ID to be able to vote. I need one to board a plane. I need one to withdraw money from my bank.