Vice-president JD Vance told an audience at the Richard Nixon presidential library in Yorba Linda, California, on Thursday that the Watergate scandal would not have brought down a presidency in today's media environment. Speaking to promote his new book Communion, Vance declared: 'If Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be a 12-hour news story. The idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy.'
Parallels between Nixon and Trump
Vance compared the forces that brought down Nixon to those he said targeted Donald Trump during his first term. 'If you look at the story of how the deep state took down Richard Nixon, it's not all that different from what the same groups of people, the same institutions, tried to do to Donald Trump in the first administration. There is a parallel,' Vance said. Trump was impeached twice: first for pressuring Ukraine's president to investigate Joe Biden, and second for inciting the January 6 Capitol attack.
Nixon resigned in 1974 to avoid impeachment for his role in the Watergate break-in and cover-up. Despite the scandal's reputation as a triumph of accountability, Trump and allies have sought to revise its legacy. Trump himself has said Nixon 'may' have been guilty.
Nixon's renaissance and Vance's ambition
Vance argued Nixon's legacy is 'enjoying a bit of a renaissance', citing his diplomacy in ending the Vietnam war and opening relations with China. He called Nixon a 'political genius' and listed shared traits: 'Young senator. Vice-president. Writes some bestselling books. Is hated by the media. It kind of sounds like JD Vance.' Vance, seen as a 2028 presidential contender, omitted that Nixon became president.
