A Trumpanzee clown was bitching about the Democrats and singing the praises of Donald Trump to me on Facebook. I noticed that his Facebook page had a picture of Ronald Reagan at the top. I was never a big fan of Reagan's. I often disagreed with him on policy, but I never questioned his patriotism. And I always thought he did what he thought was right for the country--no matter how misguided I thought his actions were. I never for a moment thought that he put his own personal interests above that of our country. So this is how I responded to the Trumpanzee. (What is a Trumpanzee, you ask? I explained that term here.)
I see you've got a picture of Ronald Reagan at the top of your Face Book page. Interesting. Are you old enough to remember Ronald Reagan? I am. Reagan was known as the Great Communicator. Donald Trump is the Great Prevaricator. Have you seen this interview between Bill O'Reilly (who is a conservative in the Ronald Reagan tradition) and Donald Trump? Reagan would NEVER make excuses for a murderous Russian (then Soviet) leader, and he would NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER badmouth the United States while doing so. If Reagan was alive today he would have bitch slapped Trump for this.
Incidentally, Ronald Reagan's son, Ron, said his father would be horrified by the Trump presidency.
Ronald Reagan's daughter, Patti Davis, said the same thing.
And here is what Michael Reagan, Ronald Reagan's other son, had to say about Trump. He is a conservative who voted for Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016, though he did so with some reservations:
Maybe now is a good time to go back and listen to some of my father’s great speeches, or his radio addresses from the late 1970s, and remember what he meant when he said he envisioned America as “a shining city on the hill.”
In the meantime, I ask all conservatives and Trump supporters – all 74,222,958 of you – to please stop thinking of Donald Trump as the equal of Ronald Reagan.
There is nothing my father and Donald Trump had in common and there never will be.
Ronald Reagan’s legacy was tearing down the Berlin Wall. Donald Trump’s legacy is going to be tearing down the Capitol. So sad.
So you can either be a Reagan Republican or a Trump Republican. You can't be both. If Reagan was alive today he wouldn't let Trump get away with his bullshit.
Update: 3/12/23: The Lincoln Project created a great video highlighting how Reagan would not fit in today's Republican Party.
Reagan wouldn't recognize today's CPAC, and today's CPAC wouldn't recognize Reagan. pic.twitter.com/KsJJeoziWM
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) March 3, 2023
Update 2/8/24: I originally said that Michael Reagan is a conservative who at one point liked Trump. That is not quite true. He is a conservative, and he voted for Trump in 2016 over Hillary Clinton in the general election, but he had reservations about Trump. His support for Trump was lukewarm at best.
