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WaPo CEO Slammed for Connection to Reagan Foundation

WaPo CEO Slammed for Connection to Reagan Foundation

The Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute has asked President Trump and the RNC to stop using Ronald Reagan’s name and likeness for fundraising purposes, reports The Washington Post.

The Foundation, in addition to preserving the former president’s principles and completing what it calls his “unfinished work,” legally controls the use of names and images of Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy. 

This week, it was revealed that the CEO and publisher of The Washington Post, Fred Ryan, is also the chairman of the board of trustees for the Reagan Foundation.

“Given The Washington Post’s leftist agenda, and the conservative legacy of the great Ronald Reagan, this appears to me to be a huge conflict,” tweeted conservative commentator Mark Levin, describing the Foundation’s request as a “publicity stunt.”

The organization’s request targets a set of commemorative coins featuring a 1987 photo of a young Donald Trump shaking hands with President Reagan. Without consent from the Foundation, the coins were offered via email in exchange for donations of $45 or more. Proceeds went to the Trump MAGA Committee, a fundraising operation that benefits Trump’s reelection campaign and the RNC.

The RNC immediately agreed to end the fundraiser, but noted that the Foundation recently hosted the Trump family to raise money for its organization and has not objected to the RNC’s use of Reagan’s name in the past.

According to Melissa Giller, the Foundation’s chief marketing officer, the fundraising email suggests a connection between Trump and Reagan that did not exist. The Foundation may decide to take legal action.

Author’s Note: Hundreds of Republicans have invoked Reagan’s name for a variety of purposes and there is no valid reason the Foundation should object to the coins.

Who would have believed the chairman of an organization representing a conservative hero was also CEO of a liberal newspaper? This truly was a publicity stunt and Mr. Ryan should resign immediately.

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8 Comments

  1. Mike

    The difference here between other Republicans using Reagan’s likeness and trump using it is quite clear-both of the Reagan’s would have hated trump. Of course trump wants to compare himself to Reagan, but that comparison will never fly. Reagan was someone who brought people together, not actively tried to drive wedges between opposing sides..

    • Lowell

      You are projecting your hatred of President Trump on the Reagans. What you think the Reagans would have thought is meaningless.

  2. Peter Schill

    How in hell did this clown Ryan ever get to be chairman of the board for anything associated with Ronal Reagan? This is what happens when you allow Libturds to get their noses under the tent.

    • Michael Webster

      You should be mad at the the Trump re-election committee for not asking the Reagan Foundation for permission to use Reagan’s image on their coins. That is a lack of respect, which is how Trump and his allies act they think they are better than anyone else, and can do whatever they feel like doing.

      • Joe Gilbertson

        That is just stupid. The Reagan Foundation does not control Ronald Reagan’s image or likeness. Reagan’s likeness is public domain. The Reagan Foundation is run by a radical liberal Trump-hating Democrat.

  3. Jen

    Fire the Ryan guy. Reagan’s legacy is surely in jeopardy w that clown as head. Get him out!

  4. Linde Barrera

    I disagree with “Mike 3 hours ago”. Ronald Reagan was a great President but he did give Carte-Blanche to Big Pharma when it came to setting prices and not having to stay within any kind of price framework vis-a-vis Medicare. Donald Trump is an economics major not a professional politician. He will go down in history as a great man who loved his country and tried to be fate and unbiased to every individual and group. Some do not like him because he still wants to drain the DC swamp. I still have hope for that. RE-ELECT TRUMP 2020.

    • Bobby

      Michael Webster we are better than anyone else.