The long-rumored Walt Disney Co. buyout of 21st Century Fox’s scripted film and television output, including the latter’s superhero-laden properties, has left many fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe quite excited. Cut to Thursday morning’s edition of Good Morning America, where Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed the news previously reported by the New York Times and other major outlets that morning — that his already massive company would in fact be purchasing Fox’s wealth of, as Iger often put it during an interview, “content.” Much to the chagrin of his co-hosts, however, Iger also avoided questions of a potential 2020 bid.
“So that’s off the table?” George Stephanopoulos asked Iger of the rumored 2020 run for the presidency. As the CEO had previously stated, fine-tuning the deal worth $52.4 billion and getting it through the proper regulatory channels would take some time. “Well I haven’t made any decisions about what my future was going to be,” Iger said in a roundabout way. “But as I said, I enjoy this job immensely and I’m looking forward to doing it for a few more years.” Needless to say, Stephanopoulos’ fellow GMA co-hosts were quite dissatisfied with Iger’s “political” response.
“That is neither a confirmation nor a denial about your political aspirations,” Robin Roberts charged Iger with a laugh. “Well it’s after 2020,” Stephanopoulos added. In response, Iger said he was “sticking around until the end of 2021, so you do the math.” In other words, it seems the Disney CEO will not be eying the White House in 2020, when Donald Trump will attempt to retain the non-golden throne afforded him by the presidential residence. Trump himself has yet to comment publicly about the pending Disney-Fox buyout, but considering his recent history with Iger, it’s a good bet he may tweet something before the day is out.
You can watch the full GMA interview with Iger below.