September 29, 2016 | No Comments
The son of former President Ronald Reagan publicly griped on Thursday about Donald Trump’s inability to pivot like a “professional politician,” writing that the GOP candidate “doesn’t know when it’s time to just shut up.”
In a blog post, Michael Reagan, the oldest living child of the former president and Republican icon, lamented that Trump “took the bait” set at the first presidential debate by Hillary Clinton and the “liberal media” to attack former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, again publicly shaming her for her weight. Reagan also called out Trump for going into “his narcissist mode” and sounding “petty” and “stupid” when asked about his public “birtherism” of President Barack Obama.
“One of Trump’s most appealing traits is that he’s not a professional politician who’s had decades to practice the low art of lying and speaking in legalese — like Hillary,” he wrote. “But all successful politicians, good and bad, have to know how to pivot.”
Reagan has been a harsh critic of Trump’s candidacy, refusing to vote for him during the Republican primaries and writing that Trump’s nomination would have likely marked “the 1st time if my father was alive that he would not support the nominee of the GOP.”
Reagan held out a glimmer of optimism for Trump’s performance in coming debates, however, writing that like his father, Trump could bounce back if he could just learn to put a lid on it.
“My father recovered from his first debate against Mondale in 1984. Obama did the same against Romney in 2012,” he wrote. “Trump can do the same thing. But like my mother always said to me, ‘Michael, you’ll never learn anything with your mouth open.’ It’s time for the Donald to shut up and start listening.”