Vance faces backlash over 'stupid' Nixon deep state claim as he compares himself to ex-president
Vance faces backlash over 'stupid' Nixon deep state claim as he compares himself to ex-president
Jeremiah Hassel Fri, June 26, 2026 at 8:46 PM UTC
335
Vance made a wild deep-state claim about Richard Nixon before comparing himself to the former president -Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited
Vice President JD Vance was eviscerated online after making a deep-state claim about Richard Nixon, comparing both President Donald Trump and himself to the controversial, ousted Republican president.
Speaking on Thursday at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in California to promote his new book, the vice president claimed that the deep state conspired to take down Nixon, then said a very similar set of events unfolded during Trump's first term and again during his second.
"And by the way, 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. There is a parallel," he said. He failed to elaborate on the conspiracy that the deep state took down Nixon. It comes after Vance committed a major national security blunder as viewers spotted a tiny detail in a photo.
• Barron Trump sparks concern with new look as people fear he 'needs help'
• Donald Trump will abandon presidency within a year over 'lethal' leaks, expert predicts
Discussing Nixon, Vance then went so far as to say that he himself has been the subject of a deep-state conspiracy to stack public opinion against him. "I also just, at a personal level, you know — OK, young senator, vice president writes some bestselling books, is hated by the media. It kind of sounds like JD Vance. So, I'm a little — you know, I've always liked Richard Nixon," Vance said.
He said he's always been "fascinated" by Nixon's presidency and claimed his "historical legacy is enjoying a bit of a renaissance."
Click here to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sports and entertainment stories.
He then wildly claimed that Watergate — the scandal that saw Nixon ousted from office and impeached — "would be like a 12-hour news story" in the modern era, calling the notion that Watergate "would have taken down a presidency" utterly "crazy."
Joe Scarborough, the host of the popular MS NOW talk show "Morning Joe," slammed Vance as "stupid" for the comments, especially the claim that Watergate would barely make a ripple in the news cycle today.
"Listen, I know he didn't go to his southern state school like me, but what he's saying is ahistoric and stupid," the host said before going through a list of Nixon's scandals. He accused Vance of "defining deviancy down."
"You can say a lot of things about Richard Nixon from '46 through '73. You can talk about the opening of China. You can talk about the creation of the EPA. You can talk about détente with Russia. You can talk about how we use China to counterbalance Russia, where that triangulation you can talk about just, again, how he was one of the more significant political figures of his time," Scarborough began.
Advertisement
"But to say that, that is defining deviancy down, and that’s trying to say, 'Listen, what we're doing now, you know, it's not bad, just like Nixon and Watergate,'" he added.
Rebutting Vance's claim that Nixon was lambasted by the deep state, Scarborough argued that Nixon actually used the deep state to his advantage during Watergate to go after his political enemies.
Nixon was impeached and nearly convicted, but he resigned before the Senate could vote -Credit:AP
In 1972, operatives connected to Nixon's reelection campaign broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., in an attempt to garner information on the Republican president's political enemies.
When the scandal came to light, the president was impeached for corruption and ultimately resigned from office during his second term before the Senate could convict him.
"Let's just be really clear here that the vice president of the United States just said that the deep state went after Nixon," Scarborough said. "No! Richard Nixon used the deep state to go after political enemies — just like, well, your administration, Mr. Vice President. The FBI, the CIA, the DOJ — it sounds vaguely familiar, doesn't it?"
The host claimed Vance is trying to say that the tapped lines and break-ins at doctors' offices, psychiatric offices and, of course, the DNC, are "normal."
"This is what JD Vance says is normal," Scarborough said before mocking Vance: "Where did you go to school, man? Where did you go to school? Like, did you really get a degree from Yale?"
Social media promptly erupted with criticisms for Vance's statement, with several X users outlining the "corruption" they say runs rampant in the Trump administration that might back Vance's comments downplaying Watergate.
"The fact that Watergate would be a 12 hour news story today, says less about Nixon than it does about Trump. The current level of Trump corruption is so overwhelming in scale, that one can’t possibly keep track of it all," one wrote.
"Vance and company are trying to normalize corruption and law breaking," another chimed in.
"Ha! JD, did you just admit Trump has committed so many crimes that Nixon would be a 12‑hour story today? Couldn't agree more. Love it when you all accidentally tell the truth," yet another added.
It comes as Trump was accused of a "very unhealthy" relationship with his blonde 34-year-old aide.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
