By William J. Kelly

Republicans love to quote Ronald Reagan, but if they really understood him, they wouldn’t be attacking Donald Trump.

During the 1980s presidential campaign, a snide reporter once asked Reagan this question: “How can an actor run for president?” To which the future U.S. president replied, “How can a president not be an actor?”

I can imagine Trump saying something similar today: How can a president not be a reality TV star?

Ronald Reagan was president during my most formative years, but there was another guy in a white shirt and red tie that had a tremendous impact on me: Donald Trump. But for these two men, this Irish Catholic kid from Chicago’s South Side would have been just another Democratic precinct captain shuffling around city hall. Instead, I’m a conservative and an entrepreneur.

That’s why I know something the political powers that be apparently don’t know: It’s not wise to underestimate Donald Trump.

Not only has Trump roiled the establishment Republican Party, whose leadership had already predetermined Jeb Bush was to be the nominee, but he has also disrupted U.S. presidential elections as we know them.

He has put the political class in turmoil: According to the latest poll, Trump still leads the GOP presidential pack despite his to run-in with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly (no relation).

The battle lines have been drawn. On Trump’s side, conservative icon Rush Limbaugh ripped Megyn Kelly’s “war on women” question, calling it a fictitious remnant of an attack on Republicans by Clinton adviser George Stephanopoulos.

READ CITIZEN KELLY’S FULL COLUMN AT NEWSMAX.