Trumpism: A Betrayal of Ronald Reagan's Legacy
It is Trump, not Republicans voting for Harris-Walz, who left the GOP.
Bob Woodward recently reported that Donald Trump may have spoken to Vladimir Putin up to seven times since leaving office.
Commenting on the allegation, Trump said, “Well, I don’t comment on that ... but I will tell you that if I did, it’s a smart thing. If I’m friendly with people — if I can have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing in terms of a country.”
Given his past embrace, and open administration, for the Russian president, it's highly unlikely that Donald Trump used those calls to advocate for traditional Republican values: rule of law, support for freedom around the world, and a Russia at peace with its neighbors.
In fact, Donald Trump's policy on Russia is a betrayal of what every Republican president from Eisenhower through Bush 41 fought for: a free, democratic Russia, and a peaceful European continent.
While presidents like George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan sought out dialogue with Russia and the Soviet Union, they did so as a way to bring about this change -- and to convince Russia to become a responsible state actor.
Trump, on the other hand, has used his dialogue to fuel Putin's worst ambitions, feed his worst impulses, and encourage Russia's reckless and dangerous behavior on the world stage.
Just recently, Trump blamed the Soviet Union's horrific invasion of Ukraine on the Ukranians themselves. He also famously threatened to withhold military aid to Ukraine for political purposes.
To Republican presidents who worked to bolster NATO as a bulwark against Russian aggression, Trump's efforts to undermine and possibly dismantle NATO wouldn't just be a betrayal -- they would be reckless policies that put the entire world at risk.
As is usual for Trump, he is supporting Russia because he believes there is something in it for him and Putin has flattered his ego -- not because it is right for our country.
Every Republican president from Eisenhower to George W. Bush believed that American foreign policy was bigger than one political party. In fact, most believed that it was bigger than our country itself.
They believed that America's responsibility was to the entire world, not just the 330 million people here at home.
Donald Trump believes no such thing. That's why his own chief of staff, National Security Advisor, vice president, and defense secretary have called him unfit to serve.
Under Donald Trump, Reagan's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" has been replaced with calls to abandon Eastern and Western Europe to Russian aggression.
Reagan's "trust but verify," has become "I believe Vladimir Putin over the US intelligence community," which is essentially what Trump said publicly in 2018.
Many current or former Republicans who are supporting Kamala Harris are often asked why we left the party.
But as we see from the above, it is Trump and his most ardent followers who left the party, not us. And that's why many of us will be voting for Kamala Harris on November 5.
The opinion is an original piece by Reagan-Bush-McCain-Romney Alumni for Harris.