With the resignation of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister of the U.K., the media has consistently wondered why something similar has not occurred with Donald Trump and the GOP, the most common answer being that the UK’s parliamentary system means government leaders are much more susceptible to pressure from their own party members instead of voters. But MSNBC analyst Brittany Cuningham had a different take on Sunday night’s Ayman, arguing that Donald Trump’s presidency was identical to that of Ronald Reagan’s, supported by the same radical base and motivated by the same "virulently xenophobic" views.
Host Ayman Mohyeldin prompted Cunningham’s rant by asking, “Is it wrong for us, or at least certainly for me to feel a little satisfaction watching Johnson being held accountable by their Republican party? I mean, we rarely see accountability on this side of the pond for any of our politicians for the damage that they do.”
Cunningham proposed a theory, “the GOP has failed to back away from Trump, perhaps it is because there is a large segment of the GOP, if not all of it, that actually quite agree with him.”
But a debate about the internal party dynamics of the current GOP was apparently the farthest thing from Cunningham’s mind, as she then trained her sights on the real target of her screed: none other than Ronald Reagan:
I mean, we have to remember that MAGA was not a Trump original, right? That this idea was started long before him, and it was popularized by a president named Ronald Reagan. And he also ignored a pandemic. He was virulently xenophobic, and he too pursued policies that benefitted wealthy, heterosexual, Christian, white men, right? So this in a lot of ways is just the identity of the party.
Let’s take this apart piece by piece.
The first claim is true. “Let’s Make America Again” was a slogan Ronald Reagan used in his 1980 presidential campaign.
Ignoring the AIDS pandemic is a charge that has been leveled against Reagan multiple times over the years — and debunked just as many times.
Would a “virulent xenophobe” have signed the Simpson-Mazzoli Act, a bill that granted amnesty to roughly three-quarters of all illegal immigrants and is favorably looked on by the left even to this day?
And if Reagan’s policies exclusively benefitted those who Cunningham sees as the privileged class, then why did median household income increase by over $4,500, and more and more people move into the middle and upper classes during the Reagan presidency?
After another rant about the recent Supreme Court decisions, Cunningham concluded: “Frankly, in a lot of ways, this is like that — that Spider-Man meme, Trump and the GOP are wearing the exact same costume, they’re looking at each other and pointing at each other, and these birds of a feather frankly will continue to flock together.”
Mohyeldin gushed over this craziness, “No, it’s absolutely — such a valid point, such a good point that Trump is not the person who created the MAGA mob, but it was the MAGA mob that’s been around that he probably just tapped into and jacked up even more.”
Although a more populist wing of the GOP that sometimes comes into conflict with Beltway-type Republicans is a very real phenomenon, turning Reagan into the first political weapon wielded by a racist "MAGA mob" (the word "mob" of course intended to evoke January 6) is both historically illiterate and insulting to the Gipper and those who voted for him.
This smearing of Ronald Reagan was made possible by 4imprint and Jeep. Their contact information is linked.
Click “Expand” to see the relevant transcript.
MSNBC’s Ayman
07/10/22
9:20:36 PM ETAYMAN MOHYElDIN: Yeah — um, hard to — uh, to, I can’t — I'm thinking off the top of my head I can’t think of a national Republican figure who runs on an anti-Trump platform or somebody who’s opposed to Trump openly and thinks that he can win it. They just either keep it to themselves or they fall in line.
Um, and — and to that point, I gotta ask you, Brittany — I mean, is it wrong for us, or at least certainly for me to feel a little satisfaction watching Johnson being held accountable by their Republican Party? I mean, we rarely see accountability on this side of the pond for any of our politicians for the damage that they do.
BRITTANY PACKETT CUNNINGHAM: I understand your satisfaction completely. And I think that David makes some important point, but if I can push further a little bit. If Johnson lost his party, but the GOP has failed to back away from Trump, perhaps it is because there is a large segment of the GOP, if not all of it, that actually quite agree with him. That this is really who the GOP is.
I mean, we have to remember that MAGA was not a Trump original, right? That this idea was started long before him, and it was popularized by a president named Ronald Reagan. And he also ignored a pandemic. He was virulently xenophobic, and he too pursued policies that benefitted wealthy, heterosexual, Christian, white men, right? So this in a lot of ways is just the identity of the party.
And frankly, if I’m Mitch McConnell, I'm not really concerned with the decorum of somebody like Trump. If he helped give me the Supreme Court of the GOP's dreams for the last 50 years, the Supreme Court that has overturned Roe, the Supreme Court that has gotten rid of bodily autonomy, the right to privacy, tribal sovereignty — uh, EPA regulations — uh, voting rights, all in a Mississippi minute.
Frankly, in a lot of ways, this is like that — that Spider-Man meme, Trump and the GOP are wearing the exact same costume, they’re looking at each other and pointing at each other, and these birds of a feather frankly will continue to flock together.
MOHYELDIN: No, it’s absolutely — such a valid point, such a good point that Trump is not the person who created the MAGA mob, but it was the MAGA mob that’s been around that he probably just tapped into and jacked up even more.
