Dennis Quaid claims that Ronald Reagan would “undoubtedly” defeat Donald Trump and become leader of the current Republican Party.
Quaid, 70, made the comments while promoting his new film, Reagan, in which he plays the former actor turned president.
While many argue that the Republican Party has undergone fundamental changes under Trump and that the modern Party would not elect Reagan, the actor believes Reagan could defeat Trump in the primaries.
“Reagan would be the leader of the Republican Party today, there’s no question about it,” Quaid said Fox News.
“This country yearns for it, in a sense. He was also a man of his time. And I think those principles are still present in the Republican Party today.”
Dennis Quaid has claimed that Ronald Reagan would “without a doubt” beat Donald Trump and become the leader of the current Republican Party
Regan generated $7.4 million in box office revenue from Friday through Sunday and had an estimated cumulative total of $9.2 million — including projections through Labor Day Monday, the Christian Post reported.
The film finished in third place at the box office over the long weekend, behind Deadpool & Wolverine and Alien, and earned a 98 percent approval rating among moviegoers.
That’s in stark contrast to the film’s meager 18 percent approval rating from film critics, making it the largest gap between critics and audiences in Hollywood history.
The film follows Reagan’s journey from his humble small-town childhood to Hollywood stardom and ultimately to the 40th President of the United States.
The focus is on Reagan’s resilience and the support of his wife Nancy. The story is told by a fictional former KGB agent whose life intersects with Reagan’s during his time as a Hollywood star.
Quaid attributed the film’s success to Reagan’s popularity on both sides of the political spectrum.
“It’s really about having a dialogue,” he said earlier Fox Business.
Quaid, 70, is seen as Reagan in his new film, Reagan
The actor believes Reagan could beat Trump in a primary race. Reagan and Trump are pictured in the White House in 1987
“I think that’s what we need to get back to in this country,” Quaid continued. “We all seem to want it and we’re trying to figure out how to do it.
‘It’s been so long, there’s so much division, it’s like you can’t have these conversations.
“It’s okay if you have a different opinion because we all want the same thing,” he continued. “The way we go about it is just different.”
Quaid also said that during the film’s production, “there were a few attempts to cancel me.”
He then told podcaster Joe Rogan that Facebook even censored online promotion of the film for fear it could “influence the election.” However, the platform later said the “fault” lay with its “automated systems.”
“This happened because our automated systems incorrectly determined that content about President Reagan required prior approval under our policies for advertising about social issues, elections, or politics,” a spokesperson for the social network told Newsweek after it shared Quaid’s letter.
“This was an error and the restriction on ads has been lifted.”
Many have argued that the GOP has undergone fundamental changes under former President Trump’s leadership and that the modern party would not elect Reagan.
Regan earned $7.4 million in box office revenue from Friday through Sunday, and had an estimated cumulative total of $9.2 million — including projections for Labor Day Monday
Following the film’s release this weekend, critics also raved about the film’s portrayal of the Republican president.
“Regardless of what you think of President Ronald Reagan, most will agree that this biopic is a preachy, laborious, clumsy dirge,” wrote Nick Schager for the Daily Beast.
He called it “clumsy and transparent to the point of seeming like shameful propaganda.”
Boston Globe critic Odie Henderson also wrote that it was “so sanitized that it feels as if Darryl Zanuck or Reagan’s old boss Jack Warner had pasted it on the screen in 1940.”