EXCLUSIVE: Dr Paul Kengor, author of the two books that served as inspiration for the film “Reagan”, sees similarities between the looming showdown between former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris and the 1980 presidential election.

Kengor, professor of political science at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, published his book “God and Ronald Reagan” in 2004, exploring the former president’s walk of faith. It was a success and quickly caught the attention of filmmaker Mark Joseph, who told Kengor that he had been “waiting” for a book like this because no one had told this version of Reagan’s story Yet he asked Kengor if anyone had the film rights to the book, and the rest is history.

When the two began talking, they decided to focus the film on another of Kengor’s books, “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism,” released in 2006 and focused on Reagan’s efforts to prevent the expansion of communism throughout the world. . “Reagan,” starring Dennis Quaid and Jon Voight, hit theaters in August and grossed about $30 million while receiving poor reviews from most critics.

The word “inflation” was used more often by the 2024 candidates than “communism”. Kengor admits that times are “quite different,” but the author still sees key similarities between the 2024 presidential elections and 1980, when Reagan defeated incumbent President Jimmy Carter in a landslide.

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Dennis Quaid as Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office. (Noah “Nanea” Hamilton/Rahide Photos)

The slogans, first.

While “Make America Great Again” is now firmly associated with Trump and his MAGA hat-wearing supporters, Kengor reminded readers that the phrase actually began with President Reagan.

“It’s interesting to note that in 1980, when Reagan ran against Jimmy Carter, he used a message that is very close to that of Donald Trump today, which is: ‘Are you better off now that it’s four years ago?’” Kengor said. Fox News Digital. “And, you know, that’s been a theme of Trump’s, as well as Trump’s phrase, ‘Make America Great Again.’ “That was Reagan’s message during his 1980 campaign.”

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Kengor said he gave himself a refresher on the 1980 election by rereading “The Crusader.”

“I think the second part of the book or the third part is called Make America Great Again. And I saw that, and I was like, I bet some people are going to read it now and think it’s a sort of Trump thing But, you I know, it was Reagan first.

Make America great again. (Jay L. Clendenin/Getty Images)

Kengor searched his office for old memorabilia trying to find old “Make America Great Again” campaign buttons.

“But I have a button that I keep on my desk that says there’s a picture of Reagan in 1980 and it says ‘Make America Great Again.’ invoked in 2016 as a Reaganite phrase, then it caught on and ended up on the red hat and it became the Trump phrase.

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Reagan was known for his strong conservative principles. And even though the Gipper was the leader of a now-bygone era, Kengor said his principles are still an integral part of today’s Republican agenda, saying Trump checks the boxes.

“I wrote a book called ’11 Principles of a Reagan Conservative,’ published jointly with Young America’s Foundation and the Reagan Ranch Center,” he said. “And he sort of lists Reagan’s 11 key areas: faith, liberty, family, sanctity, dignity of human life, limited government, lower taxes, peace through strength, ‘anti-communism.’

Washington: President Reagan joins Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger (right) and others in laughing at a remark made by Vice President George Bush (left) before a Cabinet meeting. (Getty)

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“Trump can pretty much check the box on Reagan’s 11 principles or ideas,” Kengor continued. “So even though the times are very different, conservatism believes that conservatism is based on proven ideas and principles. So no matter where you are in a particular era or campaign, those principles should be shared by conservatives if they” We are real conservatives. The ideas of Reagan’s era should therefore be transferred to conservatives today, in 2024 and beyond. »