It seems like just yesterday that “the resistance” was sure that Trump is the second coming of Hitler. With the firing of James Comey however, Trump has been transformed overnight into Richard Nixon.
In the past 24 hours, countless hot takes have been written about this. Here are a few examples.
Scott Lehigh writes at the Boston Globe:
Donald Trump pulls a Richard NixonDonald Trump has just pulled a Richard Nixon.He’s fired FBI Director James Comey, a man who is leading a criminal investigation into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign circle and Russian operatives, just the way Richard Nixon fired Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox when his probe was getting too close.Of course, in Nixon’s case, it took some doing, because principled men stood between the corrupt president and his objective. First Attorney General Elliot Richardson refused to execute the order, resigning instead. Then Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus similarly refused and resigned. Nixon then instructed Acting Attorney General Robert Bork to oust Cox, and he executed the order. Altogether, the incident, which took place on Saturday, Oct. 20, 1973, became known as the Saturday Night Massacre.
Zach Schonfeld of Newsweek gleefully shares this story about the Nixon Library:
With Trump as President, the Nixon Presidential Library Grasps at RedemptionThe Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum (@NixonLibrary) sent out a tweet Tuesday.The @NixonLibrary frequently posts tweets, but this one drew more eyeballs than usual—because of its content and because of its timing. Here is the tweet:
Do you get it? It’s a very presidential subtweet. The Nixon Presidential Library is gloriously subtweeting Donald Trump. The tweet was posted just a few hours after news emerged that the president had fired the FBI director, who was in charge of investigating the president. In other words, the museum devoted to Nixon’s life and presidential legacy lunged at the opportunity to make Nixon seem stable and wholesome by comparison. (To be fair, Trump seems to make a lot of past leaders seem stable by comparison.)It is also pushing back at critics who are quick to compare Trump to Nixon. Because, well, Trump did a Bad Thing and Nixon did not do this particular Bad Thing.
So witty. I love how Zach asks his readers if they get the joke. Of course, while the Nixon Library tweet is accurate (Nixon never fired the Director of the FBI) Bill Clinton did.
Elliot Hannon of Slate frames the development as disturbing:
Trump’s Firing of James Comey Draws Disturbing Comparisons to Nixon During WatergateOn Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. The move, whereby the president directly dismissed the man heading the investigation into Russian meddling, set off a flood of comparisons to America’s 37th president, Richard Nixon.
While Trump’s political instincts and rhetoric are often positively Nixonian, the move to oust Comey—a holdover from the Obama administration—bears close resemblance to Nixon’s attempts to keep incriminating Watergate tapes out of the hands of investigators. With an independent counsel pursuing the damning recordings Nixon secretly made of conversations in the Oval Office, Nixon decided to take drastic action and fired independent prosecutor Archibald Cox. The move, in the middle of the Watergate investigation, became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre” and prompted the resignations of Nixon’s attorney general and his deputy.
Mark Levin appeared on the Hannity show last night and threw cold water all over the Watergate comparisons. He also suggested that it’s Chuck Schumer, not Trump, who’s undermining the Constitution. Watch this:
Featured image via YouTube.
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