Ronald Reagan's son says he's not voting for Trump, and his dad likely wouldn't have, either

(Image credit: Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)

published 7 June 2016

More than a decade after his death, Ronald Reagan still looms over Republican politics, and his son revealed that he's highly doubtful his father would have rallied behind the presumptive GOP nominee.

Conservative political strategist Michael Reagan tweeted on Monday that he would not be voting for Donald Trump during California's Republican primary on Tuesday, and added in a message to Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus that "this most likely would be the 1st time if my father was alive that we would not support the nominee of the GOP." In an interview with Newsmax, Reagan said he was contemplating writing "Ronald Reagan" on his ballot because he is offended by Trump's comments about a judge with Mexican heritage. "My father would not vote for Donald Trump" in the California primary, he added, "and he may even say, 'I didn't leave the party. The party left me.'"

This didn't sit well with Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson, who said on CNN Tuesday that despite the fact that he's Ronald Reagan's son, Michael Reagan "doesn't know what Ronald Reagan would do." After being asked by Wolf Blitzer if she truly believed she knew the former president better than his own son, Pierson replied with a word salad, saying that Michael Reagan "wouldn't know what he would possibly do, because we have a lot of individuals who we would assume wouldn't support Mr. Trump and who have, so I think it's safe to say you can assume either way."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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