Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, is honored and really worshipped by tens of millions of conservatives, seen as an icon of their beliefs in limited government.
But if Ronald Reagan was alive today, it seems very clear that he would be vehemently opposed to everything Donald Trump believes in and promotes.
Ronald Reagan believed in dialogue, and managed to work with opposition Democrats on major issues, and had Democratic Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neill at the White House on a regular, friendly basis. Most famously, on the crucial issue of Social Security reform, the two men came up with an agreement in 1983 that helped promote the long term survival and extension of Social Security.
Ronald Reagan believed the solution to undocumented immigration, a constant reality over the decades at the US-Mexico border, was to promote immigration reform, as was agreed to in 1986.
Ronald Reagan understood the threat of the Soviet Union, and while supporting all efforts for dialogue and diplomacy, he knew that the nation needed to work to undermine Russian aggression as part of the Cold War.
Ronald Reagan clearly knew the danger of high protective tariffs, having lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s, with a major cause of that horrific economic disaster being the Smoot_Hawley Tariff signed by President Herbert Hoover in 1930, despite the entreaties of hundreds of economists.
Ronald Reagan believed in the power of oratory, and avoided “stirring the pot” of turmoil, and worked to unify the nation through his speeches and public utterances in times of celebration and also, of tragedy.
Ronald Reagan’s children, Ron Reagan Jr. and Patti Davis, have made clear their vehement opposition to everything MAGA Republicans promote under Donald Trump, and as do multitudes of conservative commentators, assert that Donald Trump is NOT a conservative of the Ronald Reagan stripe in any way!
Donald Trump lies incessantly, more than any President in American history.
Donald Trump works to divide and denounce anyone in his Republican party who dares to challenge him, as well as any opposition in the nation, as he conducts himself as an authoritarian figure.
Donald Trump is extremely nativist, connected to racism, and has no concern for the plight or the rights of any undocumented immigrant, and even is out to remove any foreign born individual that has moved toward citizenship, instilling fear by his massive deportation efforts without any common decency, compassion, or empathy.
Donald Trump is a known collaborator with the Russian Federation uncer Vladimir Putin, and is ready to give up our alliances with democratic nations around the world. He and his team, including JD Vance, Marco Rubio, and others in the Cabinet engaged in national security, are ready to abandon Ukraine, and cozy up to our long term rival that does not have our safety and security as their goal.
Donald Trump is ready to cause a new Second Great Depression in his incessant drive to impose high tariffs, which history tells us is suicidal economic policy. And Trump representa a threat to the longevity of Social Security, in his quest to cut government spending.
This author and blogger is NOT defending Ronald Reagan, who he considers terrible in many ways, BUT in comparison to Donald Trump, he is to be seen as in the main wave of conservatism, while Trump is clearly NOT a conservative, just an unprincipled opportunist, who is conducting himself in a Fascist authoritarian manner!
