Trump compares himself to Reagan

Donald Trump thinks of himself as more like Ronald Reagan than Mitt Romney, he said in an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon Tuesday.



In response to questions about the business mogul’s previous status as a card-carrying Democrat, Trump said that he was in good company.

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“If you look at Ronald Reagan, and he was a Democrat, he was actually, Don, he was a Democrat with a very liberal, or at least a pretty liberal bent, and he became a Republican with a somewhat conservative — I wouldn’t say very, but he was a conservative Republican,” Trump said.



And while the business mogul was quick to compare himself to the Gipper, Trump distanced himself from Romney, the failed 2012 Republican presidential nominee.

“When Mitt Romney ran, there was a tremendous — millions of people that are Republicans and conservative Republicans and evangelicals and people that I have a great relationship with, they sat home for some reason, and they did not vote, you know that, and I’m talking about millions of people,” Trump said.



Trump also said that the Republican base was not “energized” under Romney, perhaps alluding to similar comments he has made about GOP primary rival Jeb Bush, whom he has often termed a “low-energy person.”

“Had they been energized and had they voted, you would have seen victory for Mitt Romney,” Trump said.



Conservatives made up 35 percent of the electorate in 2012, up from 34 percent in both 2004 and 2008, according to exit polls.

Trump’s entire interview with Lemon will air Tuesday on “CNN Tonight.”