Governor DeSantis Reverses Course On Airbnb Following Company's Decision Not To Remove West Bank Rentals
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Florida governor Ron DeSantis is continuing his tour of Israel, and now he's saying he supports lifting sanctions against Airbnb.
What's behind his change of heart?
The company recently reversed course on a move to delist about 200 properties in the West Bank.
It was last year that Airbnb announced it would no longer list rentals on the disputed West Bank.
While on the campaign trail, and again as governor, DeSantis took the company to task.
At the state's second cabinet meeting of the new administration in mid-January, Airbnb became the first American company to be placed on the list of scrutinized companies for its perceived anti-Jewish action.
"What they have done is tied themselves in knots and you end up with a police which really only negatively impacts only one group of people in the world," DeSantis said at the meeting.
Airbnb changed its policy in April and now the governor is saying they should be rewarded.
"I never had it out for Airbnb," DeSantis said Tuesday. "I never used Airbnb but I always thought they had a neat thing. So when they reversed course and they're not discriminating, we should not penalize a company that does the right thing."
It's unclear if the governor and the cabinet must take another vote to remove Airbnb from the list of scrutinized companies.
