Reagan would be 'appalled' by GOP candidates, daughter says

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Patti Davis, the daughter of former President Ronald Reagan, said her father would be "appalled" by today's Republican presidential candidates, and that today's Republican party would not accept her father.

In an interview Monday with SiriusXM Progress, Davis was asked about Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who often invokes Reagan on the campaign trail.

"It may be this week he's doing it more than the others. But they all kind of do it. But yet, they are so not like him. My father would be so appalled at what's going on. He would be so appalled at these candidates," Davis responded. "I don't think he would be a Republican. And if another Ronald Reagan came along right now, I don't think the Republican Party would accept him."

Davis is a life-long progressive, and was estranged from her father for some time over political disagreements. However, as she wrote in her 2004 memoir, the two reconciled later in life.

Davis said her mother, former first lady Nancy Reagan, applauded the decision to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and open the door for marriage equality nationwide. The decision has been slammed by GOP candidates, most often by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who has said he has a plan to reverse the ruling if elected.

"She was very happy about that decision," Davis said of her mother. "I don't talk to her too much about politics currently. She's 94 and I think she has the right to live out the rest of life with a little bit of peace, which cannot be found in the current political scene. But you know, I don't think she's too happy about anybody on the current roster right now. I mean, there's nobody presidential. Not in that group anyway."

Davis also said her father, who was shot in an attempted assassination in 1981, would be baffled by today's levels of gun violence in America.

"He came out for the Brady bill in, I think, it was 1991," she said.

The bill mandated federal background checks, and was signed into law in 1993. It was named for Reagan's former press secretary, Jim Brady, who was paralyzed during the attempt on Reagan's life. The former president also supported the ban on assault weapons, which passed in 1994 but expired during George W. Bush's presidency in 2004.

"I don't think he'd ever be able to conceive what's going on now," Davis said regarding "the amount of gun violence or weaponry."