Earlier today, Taylor Millard argued that Donald Trump’s claims to be the next Ronald Reagan didn’t measure up. Taylor has some significant support for that position from two men with a unique perspective on the question. Politico’s Elizabeth Ralph interviewed both Michael and Ron Reagan about Trump’s claimed connection to the towering figure in modern Republican politics, and his claims to be following Reagan’s model in the campaign. Neither man thought much of those claims, as it turns out. Ron Reagan rejected the comparison forcefully:

ER: You mentioned earlier that you felt a kind of disgust that Republicans had appropriated your father in this way.

RR: That was about the comparisons between Donald Trump and my father. You listen to what Ann Coulter has to say—of course, it figures that she would make the comparison between my father and Donald Trump. Just on a human being kind of level, I can’t think of two people who are more diametrically opposed. This egotistical, narcissistic guy with the weird comb over swanning in his private plane. I picture my father on a horse at the ranch, maybe cutting some wood in his old blue jeans.

ER: What you hear of him is that he was a really nice guy.

ER: You mentioned earlier that you felt a kind of disgust that Republicans had appropriated your father in this way.

RR: That was about the comparisons between Donald Trump and my father. You listen to what Ann Coulter has to say—of course, it figures that she would make the comparison between my father and Donald Trump. Just on a human being kind of level, I can’t think of two people who are more diametrically opposed. This egotistical, narcissistic guy with the weird comb over swanning in his private plane. I picture my father on a horse at the ranch, maybe cutting some wood in his old blue jeans.

ER: What you hear of him is that he was a really nice guy.

RR: Yes. Trump doesn’t seem to be able to help himself from making comments about women that are just—this latest thing with Fiornia, I mean, come on. Are you kidding? I mean, look in the mirror, fat boy. Look at that hair, you’re ridiculous! Where do you get off talking on anybody’s appearance? It’s just so unchivalrous. My father would recoil at that sort of thing. He would never ever make a comment about a woman’s appearance. It wouldn’t matter if she were on the other side politically. That would just be unthinkable to him.

Of course, Ron Reagan hardly has much sympathy for the GOP anyway. His show on MSNBC partnered him with conservative Monica Crowley, leveraging his progressive politics for debate. (Full disclosure: I appeared on it once, my first television appearance ever … and I was awful.) That may not relate much to Ron’s personal recollections of his father, but it may color how he sees Trump as part of the GOP too, a party he claims is “no longer a legitimate party.”

Michael Reagan, on the other hand, has been a consistent voice for conservatism for more than 30 years. His opinion, while a little less heated than his younger brother’s, is not much different:

MH: … One of the problems with the Republican Party today is that they have too many consultants and they’re over rehearsed. And they seem stiff during the debates because they’re trying to remember what it is they’ve accomplished. You should never have to remember what you’ve accomplished. This is one of the things that people love about Trump, good or bad. He’s off the cuff; he’s not looking at cliff notes. But you have everybody else going through the back of their minds on the cliff notes they’ve written down to answer questions when they should know the answer to them.

ER: Ann Coulter has been tweeting about how Trump is the new Reagan. What do you think about that?

MH: Ann Coulter has no idea what she’s talking about. Trump Republicans bash everyone in the building and blow it up on the way out. Ronald Reagan rebuilds the building as he goes through it. What about that 11th commandment? Thou shall not speak ill of another Republican. I guess there’s a 12th: thou shall speak ill of everybody. To say what he said about Carly? All the conservatives love Megyn Kelly, and they support Donald, who infers she’s on her menstrual cycle?

The most thoughtful and insightful point made in either interview comes from Michael, musing on his father’s legacy. It’s time for the Republican Party to move on, because most voters don’t have any idea what his father was really like:

That’s the last great leader they remember. Democrats have Kennedy; Republicans have Reagan. But the problem there is—I have a 32 year-old daughter named Ashley. She knows who Ronald Reagan is, but name another 32 year old who does. Republicans can pull up my father and talk about Ronald Reagan but they’re talking to an aging population within their own party. They’ve got to find a way to relate to the younger generation and who they are, and if they’re not relatable or likable to those 30, 32, 35 and 40 year-olds, then they find themselves in a lot of trouble. So the party can reach out and co-opt my father, but it remains an old party. The Grand Old Party. If they want to win, they have to find a way to relate to the Grand Younger Party.

That’s good advice, and Michael suggests that Republicans stop looking at the older candidates in the race and start focusing on the future, and on the accomplishments of the present:

You’ve got your Ted Cruzes, your Marco Rubios. You have some great governors out there who’ve done great things for their states who can’t get the time of day because of Trump. The other day I Tweeted about how Rick Perry made Texas great again. John Kasich made Ohio great again. Jeb Bush made Florida great again. Walker made Wisconsin great again. And they can’t get traction because Donald Trump takes all of the air out of the room by saying he’s going to make America great again.

Be sure to read it all. Consider it a good preparation for tonight’s debate.