Well, everyone knows we are not fond of President Donald Trump here at Liberal America. However, we are also not fond of the Republican “Saint” and former late president Ronald Reagan. Well, here’s a comparison of just how bad they are.
1. Mental Health
Ronald Reagan eliminated tens of thousands of beds in mental hospitals all over the country. As Governor of California, he threw half of the state’s mental patients out of hospitals and onto the streets. As president, he abolished hospitals’ ability to institutionalize people with severe mental illnesses.
This may sound like a good thing, but there are some people who need the safety and structure of a hospital.
President Trump is trying to take 24 million people off of their insurance with his American Health Care Act. He will also get rid of the required coverage under the Affordable Care Act. So, things like mental health care, substance abuse, preventative care, and other things called “essential health benefits” will no longer be required to be covered. This will hurt not only the mentally ill as Reagan’s actions did, but it will hurt people spanning a range of illnesses including those with mental, emotional, and physical illnesses.
2. Elections
President Ronald Reagan was involved in a host of scandals surrounding the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He even used taxpayer money to fix election outcomes in a scandal known as “Sewergate.” Rita Lavelle, a Reagan-appointed EPA administrator, began using EPA funds for nefarious purposes including fixing election outcomes. She diverted money into the fund for state-level Republican elections.
However, President Donald Trump, his campaign, and his politically appointed officials are under investigation for potential collusion Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election. Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who headed the investigation, this week because the investigation is beginning to gain momentum against Trump.
3. Racism
In 1986, President Ronald Reagan actually supported apartheid in South Africa. Congress passed the Anti-Apartheid Act, which would’ve put sanctions on the South African government until apartheid was lifted. President Reagan vetoed the act and opposed the sanctions. Before he was president, he also opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
President Donald Trump has twice tried to ban Middle Eastern pseople of certain countries from entering the United States. President Trump and many of his top advisors and cabinet picks have racist histories as well. He denied responsibility for all of the racist hate speech and hate crimes that his supporters committed in the days following the election.
Trump also refused to denounce the KKK and the other white supremacists who supported him during the campaign, and he opened his campaign by calling Mexicans “rapists and drug dealers” when he vowed to build a wall at the Mexican border.
Check out this video (after the jump) to see more similarities between former President Reagan and President Trump:
Featured Image By White House photographer/Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Via Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain.
