Craig Shirley, author of three books on President Ronald Reagan, said Wednesday that should Donald Trump win the Republican nomination next year, it would be in line with Reagan’s legacy.
Asked on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” whether a Trump win would be an “abomination” or “natural step forward” for the GOP, Shirley chose the latter.
“I think it’s a natural step forward,” he said. “The Republican Party, as I said earlier, I think it gets in trouble when it becomes part of the status quo. The modern Republican Party — and Reagan understood this acutely — was to be anti-status quo, anti-establishment and that was the secret to his success. He was constantly reframing the debate and that’s what Donald Trump does. He constantly reframes the debate.”
Since launching his unlikely campaign for president in June, Trump, a billionaire real estate developer and former reality TV star, has dominated the GOP field in both national and early primary state-level polls.
Trump has held his lead despite a series of controversial statements on policy issues and about his rivals.
It was reported Monday that Republican operatives are planning to attack Trump with a barrage of negative ads in early primary states.
“The first rule of the bureaucracy is to defend the bureaucracy, and that means anybody who is a threat or a challenge must be attacked, must be ridiculed and must be destroyed,” Shirley said of Trump. He said, however, “The more they attack Donald Trump, the stronger he becomes.”
