Nazi Protesters Wave Swastika, DeSantis Flags Outside Disney: Watch

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL — Nazi demonstrators gathered outside Orlando’s Walt Disney World resort on Saturday, waving flags with swastikas and pro-Gov. Ron DeSantis messages.

State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani (D-Orlando) shared a video of the Nazi protesters on social media Saturday.

“Nazis outside of Walt Disney World today — absolutely disgusting,” she wrote. (Watch her video of the demonstration below.)

The singer Pink retweeted Eskamani’s video, writing, “Are you (expletive) kidding me????!!!!!!!!”

Disney’s granddaughter, Abigail Disney, also retweeted the representative’s video, writing, “My grandfather is spinning in his grave.”

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DeSantis, who is seeking the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, has been feuding with the entertainment company for the past year over anti-LGBTQ laws passed in the state. Disney publicly criticized the measures.

In April 2022, DeSantis signed a bill eliminating Disney’s special taxing district, the Reedy Creek Improvement District. A new oversight committee for the theme park, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, has since sued the company.

Disney has in turn sued the state of Florida, alleging it's the victim of a "targeted campaign of government retaliation."

"Disney regrets that it has come to this," the company wrote in its lawsuit. “But having exhausted efforts to seek a resolution, the Company is left with no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect its cast members, guests, and local development partners from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials."

This isn’t the first time far-right activists, including Nazis, have protested outside the theme park. Last spring, demonstrators flew swastika flags and other signs outside the resort, according to Vice.

DeSantis hasn’t publicly condemned the Nazis waving flags in support of him. Patch has reached out to his office for a comment.

The governor tweeted from his campaign account Saturday night, “In Florida and Oklahoma, we stand up for freedom — freedom to raise your family without radical ideology being crammed down your throat; freedom to worship and live your faith as you see fit; freedom to run your business and control your finances without corporate activists injecting a woke ideology into the marketplace. We are on a mission to ensure that freedom prevails across the land.”

The Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg spoke out against the neo-Nazi demonstration in a statement and said the protest “insulted Disney parkgoers.”

“Flaunting hate symbols to children and families reflects the same cruelty and lack of regard for human dignity that has characterized the Nazi movement since its beginning,” Mike Igel, museum chair, said in a statement. “As ever, we are all collectively responsible for making these reprehensible acts unacceptable in every context. We appreciate everyone who has spoken up to reject the Nazis and their antisemitic message, and we urge all upstanders to continue to do their part.”

Watch a video of Nazi demonstrators outside Walt Disney World resort on Saturday: