The Parallel Presidents: Reagan and Trump

All Americans should see the outstanding movie Reagan, playing in theaters nationwide. It depicts the life of one of America’s greatest Presidents, Ronald Reagan. The movie has grossed $18.5 million over two weekends, ranking #3 among all movies at the box office.

These impressive results were “better than expected,” but no thanks to the insufferable movie reviewers who hated the film. Conversely, audiences loved the movie, giving it an astounding 98% positive reviews. As conservative commentator Megyn Kelly noted, the American moviegoers refused to “listen” to the elitist “left-wing critics” who tried to “kill” the movie.

The movie depicts a courageous leader who takes on the political establishment at home and America’s greatest enemy abroad. He succeeded because of his belief in God, his strong conservative principles, and his overwhelming devotion to our country.

After seeing the movie, it is impossible to miss the many similarities between Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, the two modern Presidents rated most favorably by Republicans.

During his terms in office, Reagan was beloved by his supporters. He was so popular that he won re-election in 1984 with an incredible 49-state landslide.

Likewise, Trump is adored by his huge following, who attend his popular rallies and stand by him while the Democrats and their supporters in the Deep State and the media try to destroy him in every conceivable way.

Both Presidents survived assassination attempts and challenged the most powerful forces within their own party. Both Presidents were former Democrats who switched to the Republican Party.

Neither Reagan nor Trump were career politicians. Reagan was a successful movie actor and President of the Screen Actors Guild before running for Governor at the age of fifty-five. Trump was a successful real estate mogul and reality television star before running for President at the age of sixty-nine.

Reagan was not embraced by establishment Republicans who viewed him as a radical “cowboy” when he challenged President Gerald Ford for the 1976 GOP nomination. Trump was viewed by many Republicans as a “joke” and a “clown” when he initially ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016.

While Reagan lost the nomination battle in 1976 and eventually prevailed in 1980, Trump was successful in his first attempt for the presidency in 2016.

In his triumphant 1980 campaign against incumbent President Jimmy Carter, Reagan created the phrase “Make America Great Again.” At the time, the country was facing “malaise,” admitted by Carter, high interest rates, high inflation, and American hostages being held by jihadists in Iran.

In all three of his presidential campaigns, Trump has popularized Reagan’s “Make America Great Again” slogan and turned it into a bona fide political movement. In this election, Americans are facing a similar economic situation to the tumultuous Carter years.

Today, there are high interest rates, persistent inflation, which has totaled 20.05% during the Joe Biden presidency, and unease throughout the country, similar to the “malaise” that afflicted America during the Carter presidency. Also, like 1980, seven Americans are being held hostage by the terrorist group Hamas.

To fix the economic problems facing the country, Reagan cut government regulations and delivered massive tax cuts which triggered an amazing turnaround. By 1984, the economic times were so strong that Reagan’s re-election campaign featured the theme “It’s Morning Again in America” and popularized a song by Lee Greenwood “God Bless the USA,” that is a staple in every Trump rally today.

Like Reagan, Trump reduced federal regulations and provided huge tax cuts that led to a strong economy. If not for the pandemic, Trump would have been able to run for re-election in 2020 on his strong economic record.

Reagan inherited a military that was in decline and suffered from low pay and poor morale. The situation was epitomized by Carter’s 1980 mission, “Operation Eagle Claw,” that failed to rescue our hostages in Iran.

As President, Reagan completely rebuilt our military and made tremendous investments in new equipment. He also restored pride and increased pay for our military service members. Reagan was so successful that he defeated the Soviet Union “without firing a shot.”

Likewise, Trump rebuilt our armed forces and created the first new branch of the military since 1947, Space Force.

The philosophy of both Presidents was “Peace Through Strength.” The goal of rebuilding the military was to keep the country out of war, not start new ones. Reagan and Trump opposed the neocon warmongering philosophy prevalent in the establishment wing of both political parties.

As President, Reagan did not start any wars, other than the rescue of our hostages in Grenada. After several terrorist bombings killed U.S. Marines in Lebanon, Reagan removed our troops from the country.

Similarly, Trump did not start any wars and removed our troops from Syria, while laying the groundwork for our military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

If he would have prevailed in the 2020 election, Trump would have completed the departure from Afghanistan with “dignity and strength.” Instead, under Biden, Trump believes the withdrawal was “the most embarrassing day in the history of our country.” In the chaos of the retreat, 13 American military service members were killed in a terrorist attack that Trump labels a “humiliation.”

Along with the debacle of the departure from Afghanistan, the Biden administration has instituted woke leadership and policies in our military, contributing to an ongoing recruitment crisis.

If elected again in 2024, President Trump will need to rebuild the military again, facing a challenge like the one Reagan successfully managed.

Reagan triumphed despite media coverage in his first term that was rated 13-1 negative. In his re-election campaign, his opponent received mostly positive press, while Reagan had to endure media coverage that was 10-1 negative.

Trump faces a comparable challenge in his 2024 campaign. The Media Research Center uncovered that his media coverage is 89% negative, while his opponent has received 84% positive press.

Let us pray the similarities continue with Trump winning in November and serving a successful second term, just like President Reagan.

Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from Noon until 1 p.m. CT nationally on Real America’s Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-9 a.m. & 6-7 p.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America’s Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on Crouere.net. For more information, email him at [email protected].