Vance Says Watergate Wouldn't Topple a President Today

Vice President JD Vance said Friday that the Watergate scandal, the defining political crisis of the 20th century that forced a presidential resignation, would barely register in today's media environment.

He drew direct parallels between Richard Nixon and Donald Trump as targets of what he called "deep state" forces.

Nixon was a “Political Genius”

Speaking at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library to promote his new book “Communion,” Vance declared the 37th president a "political genius" whose legacy was "enjoying a bit of a renaissance."

"If Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story," Vance said.

"The idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy."

Nixon, Trump, and the Deep State

Vance framed Watergate not as a failure of presidential accountability but as a political takedown.

"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 Trump administration," he said.

The parallel Vance drew is a reframing of one of the most documented episodes in American political history.

Watergate began in 1972 with a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters by operatives connected to Nixon's re-election campaign.

It led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, the only presidential resignation in US history, after it became clear he would face near-certain impeachment and removal from office.

The scandal has long been viewed as a demonstration of the U.S. system of accountability functioning at its highest level.

Trump was impeached twice during his first term: once for allegedly pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden under threat of withholding military aid, and a second time for inflaming the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

Despite the parallel Vance drew, Trump was acquitted by the Senate in both impeachments.

Iran Policy Leverage

Shifting to foreign affairs, Vance defended Trump’s structural approach toward Iran.

He outlined the administration's core mission: destroying Iran's conventional military, eliminating its power projection, and preventing the acquisition of nuclear weapons.

Trump resisted pressure to alter these goals, successfully creating significant diplomatic, economic, and military leverage.

Vance indicated this leverage will be used to secure broader domestic victories, noting the effort against Iran is ongoing.

A P. Diddy Reference

Vance also dismissed political rival Gavin Newsom, contrasting their public reception by noting consumers actually purchase his books rather than Newsom's.

He additionally referenced Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, jokingly calling him a great Christian theologian before noting the figure is neither a Christian nor a theologian.

Vance noted these remarks would likely generate future political attack ads against him.