Hollywood movie star Dennis Quaid (Breaking Away, The Right Stuff, The Big Easy, Great Balls of Fire!, The Parent Trap, The Rookie, The Day After Tomorrow) plays President Ronald Reagan in the recently released biopic Reagan.
Note: The film is based on the 2006 book The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism by Paul Kengor, executive director of the conservative think tank Institute for Faith and Freedom.
Placing the current political environment in the context of his film, Quaid said during an interview with Chris Wallace on Max: “I do feel that the principles of Ronald Reagan and the principles of Donald J. Trump are very similar.”
“Reagan would have been appalled by Trump’s behavior.”
Chris Wallace called out Dennis Quaid over his support for Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/nX1pMpGoMZ
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 5, 2024
Wallace, who covered Reagan’s presidency in depth while serving as NBC’s chief White House correspondent during much of his administration, argued against Quaid’s assertion, saying: “Reagan confronted the Russians… and talked about an ‘evil empire,’ Trump doesn’t do that.”
Seemingly bemused, Wallace provided a second difference: “Reagan supported free trade, Trump imposes tariffs.”
And then a third: “And Reagan’s 11th Commandment was ‘Thou shall not speak ill of another Republican.’” Wallace laughed and added, “I gotta say, I think Reagan would have been appalled by Trump’s behavior.”
Quaid said he sees a changed Trump in 2024, as far as the former president’s alignment with his party is concerned. “I do think you see a Trump 2.0 here as far as the Republican Party and him getting along that this time around,” Quaid told Wallace, justifying his Reagan-Trump comparison.