'Disney doesn't run Florida anymore': DeSantis insists as he wraps up South Carolina swing

Taking yet another victory lap after stripping Disney of its special status, Ron DeSantis said on the last stop of a multi-city swing through South Carolina that the corporation no longer 'runs Florida.'

While railing against what he claims is the 'left's agenda pushing transgenderism,' the Florida governor lauded his policies that have stopped the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools in the Sunshine State.

At each stop of his tour Wednesday, DeSantis focused on a few key issues – gender and sexuality as it pertains to minors and athletics; and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, specifically as it relates to what he claims is Florida finally being free from the hold of Disney. 

'In Florida, we've made sure that gender ideology has no place in our K through 12 schools,' DeSantis said to massive cheers from the crowd of more than 500 people. 'Teach kids about math, teach them about English, teach them about the basics. Don't teach them about things that are not true and that could be very, very harmful for them.'

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Disney no longer 'runs' Florida thanks to his leadership 

The governor welcomed his wife and Florida first lady Casey DeSantis on stage for an interactive chat during the last stop of his three-city swing through South Carolina 

'The left didn't like that when we did it, the corporate press didn't like it when we did it and Disney didn't like it.

'You know, they may have run Florida for 50 years before I got on the scene, but they don't run Florida anymore,' he said of Walt Disney Co.

DeSantis made it a huge priority over the last year to overhaul the Reedy Creek Improvement District because its sheer existence gave Disney unprecedented powers over the land where its theme park and resorts are built.

The governor appointed a new five-person board for the newly named Central Florida Tourism Oversight District – and those on the panel are working to make sure Disney does not get preferential treatment over other corporations in the state.

The board received a briefing from investigators on Wednesday revealing that deals Disney made with the old board to protect its district's special status are void because they did not follow Florida's laws for the required notification period. 

DeSantis made his last stop of a busy day in South Carolina by speaking to one of his largest crowds yet at a church in the northwestern part of the early primary contest state.

Roughly 500 people made it into the room where DeSantis delivered his remarks – some sitting and some standing – but a second overflow room was set up at the last minute for another 500-plus attendees to be able to hear from the governor before his speech.

Others stood outside in the church's atrium to try and hear what the potential 2024 candidate had to say. DeSantis' team told DailyMail.com that roughly 1,500 people came through the security checkpoint for the event. 

DeSantis spent his speeches on Wednesday railing against Disney, the 'woke' left agenda and transgenderism

Locals seeking to voice their opposition to DeSantis and his visit to South Carolina lined the streets leading up to the church ahead of his arrival.

Some protesters held signs reading, 'We say gay,' as a clear demonstration against the Florida governor's bill prohibiting instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Florida Education Department approved a new rule requested by DeSantis that expanded the ban to include all grades in public Florida schools when it was previously capped at the third grade.

Other posters outside of First Baptist North Spartanburg Church accused DeSantis of being a 'fascist.'

'It is wrong for a teacher to tell a student that they may have been born in the wrong body or that their gender is a choice,' DeSantis said during his remarks in Charleston, South Carolina earlier on Wednesday morning.

'So we don't let that happen in Florida,' he said. 'Disney objects to that, well so be it, we're going to do that.'

Disney's CEO-at-the-time came out against the Parental Rights in Education after DeSantis signed the law, sparking a now year-long war between the corporation and Florida's governor.

Meanwhile, Republican voters are still waiting for DeSantis to announce his highly anticipated run for president.

The Florida governor is continuing to traverse the country exploring a presidential run under the guise of a book tour for his memoir The Courage to Be Free: Florida's Blueprint for America's Revival. 

The Florida governor is continuing to traverse the country exploring a presidential run under the guise of a book tour for his memoir The Courage to Be Free: Florida's Blueprint for America's Revival

Before going to Spartanburg, DeSantis started Wednesday with remarks to a room of about 300 people in Charleston, which also included a fireside-style chat with his wife and Florida first lady Casey DeSantis.

After stopping at a local coffee shop, the governor went to Summerville, South Carolina for a closed-press event hosted by the Dorchester County GOP.

South Carolina State Sen. Josh Kimbrell introduced DeSantis in Spartanburg by saying while 'Florida is where woke goes to die… in South Carolina we try our best not to let it even land at the airport.'

'Even if he doesn't run for president… he has changed America forever,' he said of the Florida governor.