Levin Criticizes Candidates ‘Beating Down Opponents’ With Vulgar ‘Ruthlessness’

Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, MD, conservative talk show host Mark Levin gave a speech contrasting the legacy of  President Ronald Reagan to today’s presidential candidates.

Levin said, “Reagan was a full-throated principled conservative. He was a full-throated anti-establishment conservative.  The Washington establishment, Republicans and Democrats fought him every step of the way including during his two terms as president. How do I know? Because I was there that’s how I know. Reagan was not a cult like figure. Reagan was not a cult like figure which anyone can project their beliefs on him; he was a man of strong ideas. He was agenda driven. There was no confusion on where he stood on matters of faith, national security, domestic affairs, and other areas of life.  There was no confusion about who he blamed for most of the problems in society — big centralized government. He used to refer to it as the iron triangle — he iron triangle of Congress, the media, and special interests. And it was Reagan who first coined the phrase ‘We Will Make America Great Again,’ and again I should know, I wore a button that said exactly that. Reagan was not a recent convert to conservative; he was a long time advocate for it.”

Levin added, “Let me be clear: it’s not enough to win the nomination by personally beating down your opponents with such vulgar and ruthlessness, espousing conflicting or ever-changing beliefs, trashing the establishment one day, yet bragging about working with them the next. That is playing both insider and outsider. And then expect these disparate parts of the conservative movement having been exploited and turned against each other to suddenly rally to your cause.”