US Vice President JD Vance has sparked widespread controversy after downplaying the political impact of the "Watergate" scandal. He stated that the case which brought down former US President Richard Nixon would, if it occurred today, be nothing more than a 12-hour news cycle.
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According to The Telegraph, Vance also claimed that Nixon was forced out of the White House by what he described as the "deep state," alleging that the same institutions attempted to target President Donald Trump during his first term.
Vance said that if the Watergate scandal happened today, "it would be a 12-hour news story," adding, "The idea that it would actually lead to the downfall of a president is insane."
The US Vice President's remarks came during a speech delivered at the Richard Nixon Foundation in Yorba Linda, California, where he noted that the legacy of the 37th US president has recently been undergoing a "renaissance" and a reevaluation.
Vance added: "If you look at the story of how the deep state overthrew Richard Nixon, it is not fundamentally different from what the exact same groups and institutions tried to do to Donald Trump during his first term. There is a parallel between the two cases."
Nixon remains the only US president to resign from office, stepping down on August 9, 1974, despite having achieved a landslide electoral victory across 49 states just two years prior.
Although his presidency witnessed notable foreign policy achievements, including ending the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal overshadowed those successes and ended his political career.
The origins of the case date back to June 1972, when five men were arrested after breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., attempting to plant listening devices just months before Nixon's re-election.
While there is no evidence that Nixon personally ordered the break-in or had prior knowledge of it, he later participated in efforts to cover up the incident.
What later became known as the "Smoking Gun tape"—recorded by the White House taping system—revealed a conversation between Nixon and his top aides about using the CIA to obstruct the FBI's investigation.
As political pressure mounted and he faced the imminent prospect of impeachment by Congress, Nixon announced his resignation on August 9, 1974.
During his speech, Vance expressed his admiration for the former president, stating that he "always loved Richard Nixon." He pointed out several similarities between them, noting that both became senators at a young age, were elected vice president around the age of forty, authored bestselling books, and were, as he put it, "hated by the media."
Despite Vance's insistence that the "deep state" was behind Nixon's downfall, the former US president acknowledged years later his moral responsibility for the scandal and expressed his regret.
Vance's comments drew widespread criticism from figures and observers who argued that describing Watergate as a mere hours-long news cycle reflects a decline in accountability and public life standards compared to the 1970s. (Agencies)
