Rep. Bob Inglis, R-S.C., who lost his bid for re-election in the Republican primary to conservative Trey Gowdy, says President Ronald Reagan might not feel at home in today’s Republican Party. And it’s not just the conservative nature of the tea party that is flexing its muscle in the GOP, because Reagan is a conservative standard bearer in his own right. But negative tea partyers have hijacked the GOP, Inglis said on CNN,
The Hill reports.
Asked whether moderates are being forced out of the Republican Party, Inglis said, "Well, not so much moderates. Surely, maybe they're unwelcome, but also conservatives of the optimistic sort."
Then he brought in the historical reference.
"I think this would be a tough time for Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp," Inglis said. "They were optimists that believe in America. Right now, unfortunately, conservatism is being presented with a voice of snarling rather than a face of smiling, and it really doesn't fit America."