Ronald Reagan's son says his father would be 'horrified' by the Trump administration and blasts the president's children as 'grifters who are profiting off his presidency'
Ronald Reagan’s son has hit out a Donald Trump and the current state of the Republican Party, insisting his father would be ‘horrified’ if he were alive to see what’s happening in the White House today.
Speaking to CNN's Ana Cabrera on Sunday, Ron Reagan, the son of one of the most decorated Republican presidents in history, laid into the current administration and even admonished Trump’s family.
When asked about the role Trump’s children have played during their father’s White House tenure and his re-election campaign, the 62-year-old accused them of being ‘grifters’ who were trying to profit off of his presidency.
‘They’re certainly entitled to campaign for their dad,’ Reagan said, adding he and his siblings did the same for their father.
‘When you cross the line is ― I hate to say it here, I don’t mean to be blunt, but we’ve got a bunch of grifters in the White House. They’re treating this as a grift,’ he continued.
Speaking to CNN's Ana Cabrera on Sunday, Ron Reagan, the son of one of the most decorated Republican presidents in history, laid into the current administration and even shared choice words for Trump’s family
When asked about the role Trump’s children have played during their father’s White House tenure and his 2020 re-election campaign, the 62-year-old accused them of being ‘grifters’ who were trying to profit off of his presidency
Reagan accused the Trumps of mixing business with pleasure and with statecraft.
‘They are using the hotels and the golf clubs to profit off of the presidency,’ the liberal political commentator told the network.
Reagan also slammed Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner, both of whom he accused of being handed high-level White House positions despite having ‘no qualifications whatsoever. Zip.'
The president and his inner circle have routinely been accused of using his presidency for profit since his shock election victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Such accusations stem from Trump often using his platform to promote businesses and award government contracts and campaign positions to close friends and family.
Reagan Jr. himself has long been an outspoken critic of Trump. Earlier this year, he told the Daily Beast his father would have been embarrassed and ashamed to see Trump, who he described as ‘incompetent and traitorous’, in the White House.
He renewed that opinion in his interview with CNN on Sunday, insisting Trump has done tremendous damage to the GOP that could take years to repair.
‘When I think of my father, I think of words like integrity, decency, dignity, honor, and patriotism — not nationalism but patriotism — all of those qualities are in very short supply in this White House,’ he said.
‘And, frankly, the Republican party has been complicit in degrading those values.’
Reagan added that his father would be horrified by the Republican Party ‘right now’.
‘The spinelessness in the face of this pathological entity in the White House right now would shock him,’ he said. ‘I know his character and I know what would horrify him and I know this administration would.’
Ron Reagan (seen left with mom Nancy) has long been an outspoken critic of Trump. Earlier this year, he said his father (center) would have been embarrassed and ashamed to see Trump, who he described as ‘incompetent and traitorous’, in the White House.
He renewed that opinion in his interview with CNN on Sunday, insisting Trump has done tremendous damage to the GOP that could take years to repair
Trump is currently trailing Joe Biden in the polls of a number of key swing states that could decide the election on November 3.
If Trump were to lose to Biden, he would be the first president to serve just one term since George HW Bush.
Reagan, who passed away in 2004 from complications brought on by Alzheimer’s disease, was not a president without his own controversies.
He is often heavily criticized for his slow response to the AIDS epidemic, resulting in thousands of deaths. His administration also almost tripled the national debt, sold weapons to Iran, and helped arm anti-communist rebels in Afghanistan, who later became known as the Taliban.
However, Reagan Sr. remains immensely popular among conservatives who have even recently gone as far as to highlighting the stark differences between him and Trump.
In July, the group Republican Voters Against Trump released a video using a Reagan speech from 1980 to illustrate their view that Trump has helped create an environment in the United States which is against everything that the 40th president campaigned for.
'Are you convinced that we’ve earned the respect of the world and our allies?' the video said in-part, using Reagan's words.
