'Reagan' director reveals why 'Make America Great Again' line was left out of original release
The re-release of the "Reagan" movie includes a clip featuring a famous line from the 40th president that was left out of the original.
In the scene, Dennis Quaid’s President Ronald Reagan gives a speech at the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO.
"You and your forebearers helped build this nation," he says in the clip. "Now help us rebuild it. And together, we will make America great again."
Director Sean McNamara explained that the original release of the film did not include the moment because it was an election year. While Reagan was the first to use the "Make America Great Again" line during his 1980 presidential campaign, President Donald Trump then adopted it for his 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns, and his supporters often refer to themselves by the acronym "MAGA."
"In the middle of a divisive election season when we released the movie, we made the decision to leave out a moment that might have been mistaken for electioneering," McNamara told Fox News Digital. "But in this special year of celebration, we are putting back in the phrase which has been uttered by presidents of both parties and which was used as Reagan’s campaign slogan in 1980 and which he repeated in the speech just before he was shot."
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A special edition of "Reagan," with 10 additional minutes of never-before-seen footage, is scheduled to be released in theaters Sept. 25, in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.
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There are plans for both limited audience screenings on July 4 in over a dozen cities and a wider-scale re-release in September in 600 theaters. The additional scenes include moments between Reagan and his wife Nancy in the Oval Office, a scene between Reagan and his alcoholic father, Jack, and scenes at the Reagans’ California ranch near Santa Barbara, Rancho del Cielo.
Fox Nation’s "Making Reagan," now streaming, offers an exclusive look at the making of the 2024 biopic. The documentary features never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage, original interviews with Joseph and cast members Elya Baskin, Will Wallace, Kevin Dillon, and more, along with archival footage of Reagan, key moments from the movie, and backstage footage from the set.
The movie received generally poor reviews in 2024 but a highly positive audience score on the critic aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.
Fox News Digital's Alexander Hall and Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.