Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California said Monday that former first lady Nancy Reagan was someone who “demanded a sense of propriety” and who would be “appalled” by a presidential candidate like Donald Trump.
Mr. Rohrabacher, a Republican who served as one of President Ronald Reagan’s senior speechwriters, told MSNBC that Mrs. Reagan, who died Sunday at age 94, would be “appalled at the lack of civility by Mr. Trump,” the Daily Caller reported.
“Every time there’s a debate, he’s insulting his opponents in the debate. Reagan would never have dreamed of that. And Nancy, more than anything else, was someone who demanded a sense of propriety,” said Mr. Rohrabacher, who has endorsed Republican Sen. Ted Cruz for president.
“I think one of her greatest accomplishments — I know she’s gotten a lot of credit for policy influence, which I don’t think she had, I think that’s being way overplayed — but what she did when Reagan was elected president, we all got to the White House together and the White House was a mess,” Mr. Rohrabacher continued.
“It was a total mess and the standards had gone down, and she brought — for example, there wasn’t even a full set of dishes for formal dinners at the White House when we have foreign and international guests coming in,” he said. “She made sure that she brought dignity and a sense of propriety back to the White House. And that type of influence that she had — making sure that things were done properly — was very pervasive, and today she would have been horrified by some of the nasty things that are being said by Mr. Trump.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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