Reagan’s sons not crazy about Trump
The two sons of former President Ronald Reagan have negative views of GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump.
“Just on a human being kind of level, I can’t think of two people who are more diametrically opposed,” Ron Reagan told Politico.
{mosads}“Trump Republicans bash everyone in the building and blow it up on the way out,” agreed Michael Reagan, according to the same news publication.
“Ronald Reagan rebuilds the building as he goes through it,” he added. “What about the 11th Commandment? Thou shall not speak ill of another Republican. I guess there’s a 12th: thou shall speak ill of everybody.”
Ron Reagan said that his father would find Trump’s sharp criticism of women reprehensible, for example.
Trump has sparked national shock this summer by publicly feuding with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, comedian Rosie O’Donnell and fellow Republican White House hopeful Carly Fiorina.
“My father would recoil at that sort of thing,” he said. “He would never make a comment about a woman’s appearance. It’s just so unchivalrous.
“It wouldn’t matter if she were on the other side politically,” Ron Reagan added. “That would just be unthinkable to him.”
Michael Reagan, meanwhile, argued that Trump’s popularity is representative of a greater problem Republicans have connecting with voters overall.
“They don’t communicate very well at all,” he said of Republicans. “They all co-opt Ronald Reagan but they don’t realize Ronald Regan’s strength was communication.
“Ronald Reagan spoke to America in parables,” Michael Reagan added. “Too many of today’s politicians in the Republican Party speak to us in soundbites. I think that’s a huge, huge difference.”
The Reagans’ remarks come as Trump and the rest of the 2016 GOP presidential field prepare for Wednesday’s televised debate on CNN. The event airs live from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
Trump has frequently claimed he has inherited the former president’s legacy during his appearances on the campaign trail this election cycle.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that there is little record of ties between the outspoken billionaire and Ronald Reagan in the latter’s presidential library.
Trump remains the front-runner for next year’s Republican presidential nomination across multiple national polls despite questions about his conservative credentials.
He ranks first of 16 GOP contenders with 29.8 percent, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of samplings.
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