Last Updated on 04/09/2024 by Arun jain
Dixon, ILL. – Locals living in the late president’s hometown were mixed on whether Ronald Reagan The premiere of the movie “Reagan” in Dixon, Ill., will still have a reception at today’s Republican Party.
Most political observers would argue that today’s MAGA movement looks and sounds different from the party that once consisted of traditional Reagan conservatives. But actor Dennis Quaid, who stars as Reagan in the new biopic, didn’t hesitate when asked if he would accept the party head in 2024.
“Reagan would be the head of the Republican Party these days, no doubt about it,” Quaid said Fox News Digital On the front porch of President Reagan’s childhood home. “This country yearns for it in a sense. He was also a man of his time. And I think those principles are still there today in the Republican Party.
Dixon locals had more mixed reactions to Reagan’s presence at today’s GOP as they waited for the Aug. 22 premiere of “Reagan” at The Dixon: Historic Theater, hosted by the Young America’s Foundation, with some criticizing his policies and Nature told both. There will be a contrast with the modern movement.
“I think they’ve gone too far to the right,” Kevin Strock of Sterling, Ill., said of the party’s shifting policies. “Reagan was a moderate. I don’t think it will be welcomed.”
Some analysts say former presidents Trump and Reagan were at least equal In his populist theories. But some others have shown stark disparity.
Author Edwin G. There are some, like Oswald, who have claimed that “Reagan would not be welcome in today’s GOPHis policies on immigration were argued to be “much more liberal than today’s GOP.” Reagan signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which granted amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants. During the rise of Trump in recent years, more Republicans have called for citizenship for illegal immigrants. has spoken out against providing passage and renewed emphasis on border control and preventing illegal immigration in the first place.
John Lehman of the Wall Street Journal focused more on temperament when he wrote, “Reagan would never vote for Trump”
“Reagan’s 11th commandment was ‘Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican,’ but Donald Trump is no heir to Reagan’s legacy. It’s an insult to him,” Lehman said. “I knew Reagan would be horrified that someone as inept as Mr. Trump had become the standard bearer of the GOP. Reagan would also be deeply opposed to President Biden’s agenda, and never trusted or cared for then-Sen. Biden.”
Some attendees of “Reagan’s” premiere praised him for his integrity, ethics, and ability to “agree to disagree,” suggesting that no current presidential candidate shares those qualities and that today’s politicians are more interested in tearing each other down.
“He probably won’t, unfortunately,” said one local man when asked if Reagan would fit into today’s Republican Party.
But some, like Quaid, believed 40 would still be welcome as party leader. He and Dwight D. Eisenhower is the only Republican since World War II to win consecutive terms by winning a majority of the popular vote both times.
“I do,” said Sara Ortgiesen of Dixon, who marched in Reagan’s inauguration parade. “I do personally. I think he would know how to do it. He was also an actor,” she laughs.
“Oh I think so,” Becky Anderson of Rock Falls, Ill., told Fox News Digital before watching “Reagan” the same way. “I think most true Republicans look to Ronald Reagan as their model of what Republicans really are.”
Compare/contrast highlights the policies of the leaders. Trump recently slammed Vice President Kamala Harris’ plan to ban price gouging as “socialist”, calling her “Comrade Kamala”. Caid weighed in on what Reagan would say about Harris’ economic agenda.
“Well, as far as price controls, I know Reagan wouldn’t have gone for that, because he believed in the free market. He will find his own way,” said Quaid.
“Reagan won the Cold War,” Caid said. “Reagan also testified that the Communists were trying to take over the unions in Hollywood, not only the actors union, but the set builders union and the camera union and the writers, everything and all that makes one thing. And they had to go through the artists’ union first, of course, that was the hardest.
“And Reagan fought that back then,” Kaid continued. “And when he testified before Congress, he said that we, as a nation, should just go ahead and allow the Communist Party to come into the country and let them speak their minds and everything else because democracy can handle it. And he himself. He believed in common sense.
Reagan and Trump also stunned their respective political worlds with their presidential victories in 1980 and 2016, both widely regarded as elections that shaped the political landscape.
Reagan and Trump have one disturbing thing in common that cannot be disputed: Both men survived assassination attempts. The Quaid and the electorate shared their deep feelings over the political violence that almost claimed their lives.
“Well, I had the same reaction I had when Reagan got shot,” Kaid said. “Thank God he survived. Because the first thing I remembered when Reagan was shot was the same as when Kennedy was shot, and it crippled our nation’s spirit for several decades. It was Ronald Reagan who really brought that spirit back.
“Reagan” is out in theaters now.
Kendall Tietz of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
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