It is a known fact that many people who call themselves “conservatives” are very unhappy with President Trump for essentially turning his back on most of his campaign promises and then proceeding to do the opposite. This is a large reason why the energy level is so low for this election, especially in comparison to 2016, when it was very high and almost electric.
Something that President Trump, like all presidents, has tried to do is to capitalize on the imagery of previous presidents to bolster himself, and this including using images such as those of former President Reagan, who is considered to be a sort of ‘model’ for the contemporary form of conservatism. However, in a shocking move reported by Business Insider, the Reagan Foundation, which oversees the intellectual property associated with President Reagan’s image, to stop using it to promote President Trump.
The Reagan Foundation has told the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee to stop using the image of the ex-president and conservative icon Ronald Reagan in a fundraising drive.
The request comes after Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a joint RNC and Trump campaign fundraising committee, offered a set of commemorative coins, to supporters donating more than $45. They were embossed with President Ronald Reagan’s image on one side and President Donald Trump’s on the other.
The request from the foundation to cease using Reagan’s image in the fundraising drive was first reported by Washington Post columnist Karen Tumulty on Saturday.
Reagan Foundation Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Giller confirmed the request in a statement to The Hill.
“We own the likeness of President Reagan and they used his image for the coin without our consent. We called the RNC and asked them to cease and desist the use of Pres Reagan on the coin and they agreed,” Giller said.
The Reagan Foundation didn’t immediately respond to a request for further comment. The Trump campaign also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
RNC Communications Director Michael Ahrens told Forbes that the request came as a surprise because the foundation “has not objected to us using President Reagan’s likeness before,” but said they “will stop emailing this fundraising solicitation as a courtesy.” (source)
It is a bad sign, in terms of what one thinks about another, if the Reagan Foundation has to ask Trump to stop associating with them.
This does not mean that Trump will not win- it is still possible, and overall likely when compared with Biden. However, a lot of people are angry with Trump and do not expect much from him save for more chaos and disorder.