Key word there, "Was"
Reagan later wrote: "Fascism was really the basis for the New Deal. It was Mussolini's success in Italy, with his government-directed economy, that led the early New Dealers to say 'But Mussolini keeps the trains running on time."
Point taken, but Reagan is criticizing the New Deal here more than FDR, and explaining how it was justified. A few years back some politicians wanted to replace FDR on the dime with Reagan. Nancy put an end to it by saying it’s not what Ronnie would have wanted to replace FDR.