{"id":4693,"date":"2026-06-26T00:45:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T00:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/06\/26\/jd-vance-says-nixons-watergate-scandal-would-be-12-hour-news-story-today\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T00:45:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T00:45:04","slug":"jd-vance-says-nixons-watergate-scandal-would-be-12-hour-news-story-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=4693","title":{"rendered":"JD Vance says Nixon\u2019s Watergate scandal would be \u201812-hour news story\u2019 today"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-14sl0e4\">\n<div class=\"dcr-17l77cs\">\n<figure id=\"ad4510c2-2741-4d04-9cf4-a718d0426592\" class=\"dcr-191xnya\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t7hdmw\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Man speaks to reporters\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/ca709d7a7b086b27935335ee408f32d933ce2f10\/631_0_7200_5760\/master\/7200.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"372\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-up96pv\"><span class=\"dcr-kogzpx\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-18mnkpm\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1294qmb\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-4sl2vt\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1mfxiaj\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">JD Vance in the Oval Office for a meeting with Nato chief Mark Rutte on Wednesday.<\/span> Photograph: Aaron Schwartz\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-zwabc0\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"ad4510c2-2741-4d04-9cf4-a718d0426592\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-1bitgpn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-1shbixy\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-qda0hp\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1e9iiy9\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">JD Vance in the Oval Office for a meeting with Nato chief Mark Rutte on Wednesday.<\/span> Photograph: Aaron Schwartz\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-ql9l8l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6mja0y\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-l0wuod\">JD Vance says Nixon\u2019s Watergate scandal would be \u201812-hour news story\u2019 today<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1xpojbf\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1gm5ptv\">\n<p>Vice-president declares admiration for 37th president and claims Nixon and Trump targeted by \u2018deep state\u2019 forces<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-x1al2c\">\n<div class=\"dcr-11gq2tx\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-1w2vkyc\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-ogvvui\">\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">JD Vance does not think the era-defining <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/watergate\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Watergate<\/a> scandal would have lasted more than a single news cycle in today\u2019s fragmented, hyper-partisan political environment \u2013 and certainly would not have led to a president\u2019s downfall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Speaking at the Richard Nixon presidential library in Yorba Linda, California, on Thursday to promote his new book, Communion, Vance discussed his spiritual journey from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/ng-interactive\/2026\/jun\/19\/jd-vance-catholicism\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">atheist<\/a> to Catholic convert before declaring his admiration for 37th president.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cIf Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be a 12-hour news story,\u201d the vice-president said during the discussion. \u201cThe idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Watergate, the biggest US political scandal of the 20th century and the only one to cause a presidential resignation, began in 1972 with a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington by operatives connected to Nixon\u2019s re-election campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Vance continued: \u201cIf you look at the story of how the deep state took down Richard Nixon, it\u2019s not all that different from what the same groups of people the same institutions tried to do to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Donald Trump<\/a> in the first administration. There is a parallel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Trump was impeached twice during his first term: once for allegedly abusing his power to pressure Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate his then rival Joe Biden under the threat of withholding military aid, and a second time for inflaming the mob of supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6 after an unsuccessful campaign to overturn his election defeat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Despite the longstanding view that Watergate was a triumph of the American system of government accountability for abuse of power at the highest level, Trump and his allies have sought to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/magazine\/2020\/07\/05\/trump-nixon-watergate-344769\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">rewrite<\/a> the public understanding of the scandal. Trump, the 45th and 47th president, has previously claimed that Nixon \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/administration\/496758-trump-says-he-learned-a-lot-from-nixon-dont-fire-people\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">may<\/a>\u201d have been guilty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Nixon resigned in his second term to avoid almost certain impeachment and removal from office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">In his remarks on Thursday, Vance said Nixon\u2019s legacy was rightfully \u201cenjoying a bit of a renaissance,\u201d with more attention being paid to his diplomatic achievements in ending the Vietnam war and opening relations with China. Nixon was, Vance argued, a \u201cpolitical genius\u201d with whom he shared many traits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cYoung senator. Vice-president. Writes some bestselling books. Is hated by the media,\u201d Vance said. \u201cIt kind of sounds like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/jd-vance\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">JD Vance<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Vance, widely viewed as a 2028 White House hopeful, omitted, of course, the role Nixon is most famous for: president.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-swayiu\"><span class=\"dcr-1xhbmzr\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-2c03t5\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-p7nd18\">\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/jd-vance\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">JD Vance<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-politics\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">US politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/republicans\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Republicans<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/richard-nixon\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Richard Nixon<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/watergate\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Watergate<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-313bdz\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=JD%20Vance%20says%20Nixon%E2%80%99s%20Watergate%20scandal%20would%20be%20%E2%80%9812-hour%20news%20story%E2%80%99%20today&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jun\/25\/jd-vance-watergate-richard-nixon?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-ncybeu\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-19bkree\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fjun%2F25%2Fjd-vance-watergate-richard-nixon&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/jun\/25\/jd-vance-watergate-richard-nixon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-1c41onw\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-axwinp\"><span class=\"dcr-1ryr20k\"><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>JD Vance in the Oval Office for a meeting with Nato chief Mark Rutte on Wednesday. Photograph: Aaron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}