Would Reagan be welcome in today's Republican Party? Actor Dennis Quaid and his hometown residents have mixed opinions

DIXON, ILL. – Residents of the former president's hometown were divided over whether Ronald Reagan would still be welcome in today's Republican Party at the premiere of the movie “Reagan” in Dixon, Illinois.

Most political observers believe that today’s MAGA movement has a different look and sound than Reagan’s once-conservative party. But actor Dennis Quaid, who plays Reagan in the new biopic, didn’t hesitate when asked if he’d be elected party leader in 2024.

“Reagan would be the leader of the Republican Party today, there’s no question about it,” Quaid told Fox News Digital on the porch of President Reagan’s childhood home. “This country aspires to that, in a sense. He was a man of his time, too. And I think those principles are still present in the Republican Party today.”

Dennis Quaid thrills Dixon, Ill., residents at 'Reagan' premiere, says Hollywood 'forgot' about small towns

Quaid said Reagan went through similar challenges to those Americans are facing today before he became president. (ShowBiz Direct)

Dixon residents had more mixed reactions to Reagan's presence in today's GOP as they waited in line for the Aug. 22 premiere of “Reagan” at the Dixon: Historic Theatre, hosted by the Young America's Foundation, with some saying his policies and temperament would be at odds with the modern movement.

“I think they've gone in a very far right direction,” Kevin Strock of Sterling, Illinois, said of the party's policy evolution. “Reagan was a moderate. I don't think he would be well received.”

Some analysts believe that the populist theories of former President Trump and Reagan were at least similar. But several others have pointed out glaring differences.

Some, like author Edwin G. Oswald, have argued that “Reagan would not be welcome in today’s Republican Party,” arguing that his immigration policies were “far more liberal than those of the current Republican Party.” Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which granted amnesty to three million illegal immigrants. In recent years, during Trump’s rise, more Republicans have come out against opening pathways to citizenship for illegal immigrants and have focused on border control and preventing illegal immigration in the first place.

The Wall Street Journal's John Lehman focused more on temperament when he wrote: “Reagan would never vote for Trump.”

“Reagan’s 11th commandment was ‘Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican,’ but Donald Trump is not the heir to Reagan’s legacy. He is an insult to it,” Lehman said. “The Reagan I knew would have been appalled that someone as incompetent as Mr. Trump had become the GOP’s standard-bearer. Reagan also deeply opposed President Biden’s agenda, and he never trusted or cared much for Senator Biden.”

Several attendees at the “Reagan” premiere praised him for his integrity, morals and ability to “agree to disagree,” suggesting that no current presidential candidate shares those qualities and that today's politicians are more interested in tearing each other down.

“He probably wouldn't be, unfortunately,” said one local when asked if Reagan would have a place in today's Republican Party.

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President Reagan meets with members of Congress in the Cabinet Room to discuss the situation in Grenada. From left: Congressman Bob Michel, Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, the President, and Senator Howard Baker. (Bettmann / Contributor / Getty)

But some, like Quaid, thought 40 would still be welcome at the helm of the party. He and Dwight D. Eisenhower are the only Republicans since World War II to have won two consecutive terms while receiving a majority of the popular vote each time.

“I think so,” said Sara Ortgiesen of Dixon, who marched in Reagan's inaugural parade. “I personally think so. I think he would know how to do it. He was an actor, too,” she laughed.

“Oh, I think so,” Becky Anderson of Rock Falls, Illinois, told Fox News Digital before watching “Reagan.” “I think most true Republicans look to Ronald Reagan as their model of what a Republican really is.”

The comparison/contrast highlights the policies of the leaders. Trump recently called Vice President Kamala Harris’s plan to ban price gouging “socialist,” calling her “Comrade Kamala.” Quaid offered his thoughts on what Reagan would say about Harris’s economic agenda.

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Dennis Quaid as Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office (Noah “Nanea” Hamilton/Rahide Photos)

“As far as price controls, I know Reagan would not have been in favor of that because he believed in the free market. He will find his own way,” Quaid said.

“Reagan won the Cold War,” Quaid said. “Reagan also testified that the Communists were trying to take over the unions in Hollywood, not just the actors' union, but the set builders' union, the cameramen's union, the writers' union, all of them, and make them one entity. And they had to go through the actors' union first, of course, that was the hardest.”

“Reagan opposed it at the time,” Quaid continued. “And when he testified before Congress, he said that we should, as a nation, let the Communist Party come into the country and let them express their ideas and everything else, because democracy can take care of that. And it would take care of itself. Because people would see the common sense in things. He believed in common sense.”

Reagan and Trump also stunned their respective political worlds with their presidential victories in 1980 and 2016, two elections widely seen as having realigned the political landscape.

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One troubling commonality between Reagan and Trump is that both survived assassination attempts. Quaid and voters shared their feelings about the political violence that nearly cost them their lives.

“I had the same reaction I had when Reagan was shot,” Quaid said. “Thank God he survived. Because the first thing I thought about when Reagan was shot was remembering Kennedy, and that paralyzed the spirit of our nation for decades. It was Ronald Reagan who kind of brought that spirit back.”

“Reagan” is now available in theaters.

Kendall Tietz of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.