Megyn Kelly Gives Ron DeSantis a Taste of His Own Medicine: Grills Republican on Whether His 'Viewpoint Discrimination' Punishes Liberal Voters

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis was forced to look himself in the mirror and consider if his leadership as Florida governor has prohibited one of his most touted campaign talking points: protected free speech.

Megyn Kelly pressed the governor on the issue during an interview on Friday, RadarOnline.com has learned.

When considering DeSantis' war on the so-called woke agenda and burning bridges with one of the Sunshine State's largest employers, Disney, Kelly asked the governor if he was "using government to punish citizens for political wrong think."

DeSantis appeared on The Megyn Kelly Show prior to taking the debate stage in Iowa.

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Kelly mentioned DeSantis' ongoing rift with Disney — which started after the company spoke against his "Don't Say Gay" bill — and how he reacted with legislation aimed at weakening Disney's autonomy of a 25,000-acre developmental plot.

Then she mentioned the governor's attack on Bud Light after their single Instagram post partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender woman and TikTok phenom.

Kelly asked DeSantis if he considered either an example of "viewpoint discrimination."

"You, in my view, are pretty quick to use the power of the state against certain corporations you don’t like," Kelly asked the governor point blank. "Aren’t you doing the very thing to these companies that conservatives are mad at left-wing leaders for doing?"

DeSantis scoffed at the notion as he denied any suggestion of hypocrisy, "No, not at all."

"So taking Anheuser-Busch, I mean, we’re not punishing them," the governor continued. "They departed from business practices by indulging in social activism."

DeSantis claimed Bud Light's dance with "social activism" affected Florida's pension fund, which had stock in Anheuser-Busch. After conservatives called on supports to boycott Bud Light over Mulvaney, Anheuser-Busch stock fell.

When DeSantis said the declined stock hurt Floridians, Kelly interjected, "Didn’t you support the boycott against them?"

"No, I did, but that’s just as a personal thing," DeSantis replied. "But I mean, we didn’t have like the state government necessarily putting power about it."

DeSantis doubled-down that Bud Light "departed from their fiduciary duty," but Kelly wasn't buying it.

"I’m not in favor of the Bud Light thing at all, but how can you say they departed from their fiduciary duty, they sent a beer can to this very controversial person, which upset the consumers and the consumers had their say. But how is that a departure from — and how does the state get involved in that?" Kelly pressed.

DeSantis asked how Bud Light teaming up with Mulvaney benefited shareholders or the company but Kelly argued, "How is that for you to weigh in on?"

When the topic turned to Disney, DeSantis said, "They started going down the road of sexualizing children. We just could not be joined at the hip with a company that was doing that."

DeSantis additionally accused Disney of "supporting sexualizing kids in Florida schools" and using "corporate weight" to ensure "that could happen."

"That’s an admission that they were punished by you in part by the state for their political viewpoint," Kelly informed the governor. "Why can’t Disney oppose your law? Why can’t they promote this agenda in their viewpoint without being punished by the state?"

"They’re not being punished. We’re just simply removing special benefits that they have had," DeSantis replied, clearly missing Kelly's point.