15 Things Trump and Reagan Have in Common That Opponents Don’t Want Voters to See
As Donald Trump’s unlikely candidacy for the president continues to gather steam, many mainstream pundits are saying that the billionaire real estate mogul and media figure is too conservative and doesn’t stand a chance.
But, you know, they said the same things about another media figure who won the GOP nomination 35 years ago: Ronald Reagan.
Here are fifteen similarities between Reagan and Trump, put together by the folks at Newsmax.
1. Like Reagan, Trump is a Washington outsider.
While he held elected office, Reagan was a two-time governor of California and rarely spent time inside the Beltway. While not elected to office, Trump has plenty of executive experience with corporate America and is equally-disdainful of Washington politics.
2. Reagan was dismissed as a serious candidate, and so was Trump.
“The establishment critics said the exact same things about Reagan,” Jeffrey Lord, a former Reagan aide, recalled. “Reagan was ridiculed as ‘not serious’ and a B-movie actor, and they said over and over he could never win — until he did. It’s happening again. I really feel it.”
3. Trump and Reagan were both attacked by the establishment as being extreme and simplistic.
In fact, Reagan was considered so extreme that a group of RINOs decided to run liberal Republican John B. Anderson as an independent candidate against Reagan in 1980. In spite of the fact Anderson took almost seven percent of the vote, Reagan still destroyed Carter.
4. Trump shares Reagan’s “passion” for what he believes in.
Even Reagan’s own son, Michael Reagan, testified to this. “That’s why America right now has surrounded Trump, in this case, because he’s off the cuff and he speaks from his own passion,” Reagan said.
5. Trump espouses similar views as Reagan on illegal immigration.
Think Trump is the only GOPer to touch the political third-rail on illegal immigration? Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986. The act made it illegal to recruit or hire illegal immigrants, and it held employers responsible for their employees’ legal status.
6. Trump is a straight-talker, like Reagan.
Reagan didn’t get the nickname “The Great Communicator” for speaking like Noam Chomsky. He took complex ideas and made them plain and understandable for everyone. He also was willing to talk straight, much like Trump.
7. Trump began as a Democrat before becoming a Republican.
So Trump was a Democrat back in the day? Big deal. Reagan was one of Hollywood’s most prominent FDR liberals before seeing the light.
8. Trump, like Reagan, has been a TV star.
While not as popular as his film roles, Reagan also hosted “General Electric Theater” in the 1950s and “Death Valley Days” until his 1965 run for governor. Neither, sorry to say, was as popular as “The Apprentice.”
9. Trump seeks to follow in Reagan’s footsteps and succeed a liberal, big-government Democratic president.
And if you thought Carter was bad, he has nothing on BHO.
10. Trump and Reagan both opposed runaway public employees’ unions.
Trump has expressed admiration for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s reigning in of public unions. Reagan went even further — firing 11,000 striking air traffic controllers in 1981.
11. Trump shares Reagan’s overall aim as president: to make America great again.
In fact, that’s Trump’s slogan. Meanwhile, Reagan made American exceptionalism a chief tenet of his 1980 campaign, combatting the “malaise” America had endured under Jimmy Carter.
12. Trump favors tax reduction, as did Reagan.
Reaganomics days will be here again under Trump, who champions an end to the real estate tax, lowering corporate taxes to zero and an easing of the capital gains and dividends taxes.
13. Trump, like Reagan, is pro-life.
“Simple morality dictates that unless and until someone can prove the unborn human is not alive, we must give it the benefit of the doubt and assume it is [alive]. And, thus, it should be entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Reagan said. In 2011, Trump also announced that he is pro-life after years of being pro-choice.
14. Trump and Reagan both have defended gun rights and the Second Amendment.
Trump has been a major champion of gun rights during his run for the White House. Likewise, President Reagan signed the Firearm Owners Protection Act, a landmark bill that ended records-keeping for ammunition sales.
15. Reagan was the first president who had been divorced.
While Nancy was a great first lady, she wasn’t Reagan’s first wife. Trump has also been divorced, twice — first from Ivana Trump then Marla Maples. He’s been with his current wife, Melania Knauss, since 2004.
Please like and share on Facebook and Twitter if you agree that Trump would be the best conservative president since Reagan.
Tuesday, August 4th, 2015
Sent from my iPhone
No comments:
Post a Comment