It’s not every day that you see the would-be frontrunner for a major party’s presidential nomination extolling the virtues of Richard Nixon and downplaying his corruption.
But there was Vice President JD Vance on Thursday doing precisely that.
During an appearance at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in California, Vance likened Nixon’s ouster to efforts to hold President Donald Trump accountable in his first term, blaming the “deep state.” Vance also claimed Watergate wouldn’t be much of a story today.
There are some grains of truth in what he said, as well as some potential strategic benefit.
But there is also some danger. The vice president’s comments point to how perceptions of corruption are a sleeping giant for the Trump administration — and, by extension, for Vance in 2028.
