Vance Praises Nixon Renaissance, Watergate Tweets Explode

J.D. Vance sparked a fresh wave of backlash after praising Richard Nixon’s “renaissance,” joking that Watergate would be a “12-hour news story” if it happened today, and drawing parallels between Watergate’s “deep state” backlash and efforts against Donald Tru

J.D. Vance didn’t just defend Richard Nixon on Thursday—he made the defense sound almost casual. like history was an inside joke. He said Nixon’s legacy might be “enjoying a bit of a renaissance. ” and in the same breath compared the Watergate scandal to something that. if it happened now. would play out as nonstop breaking news.

Speaking at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda. California. the vice president told the crowd he was “fascinated by Nixon as a character in history.” He pointed to Nixon’s presidency—ended in disgrace after his 1974 resignation—as a turn that deserved to be reconsidered. saying Nixon’s legacy is “enjoying a bit of a renaissance. ” and adding. “deservedly so.”.

Then came the line that spread quickly: Vance suggested that if Watergate unfolded “tomorrow,” it would be “like a 12-hour news story.” He followed up with the blunt assessment that “The idea that it took down a presidency is crazy.”

For Vance, the comments weren’t only about Nixon. He also tried to draw an emotional symmetry between the past and the present, arguing that the machinery that brought down Nixon has a modern mirror.

“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,” Vance said.

He even framed the parallel as personal identification, saying the familiar storyline sounds like his own career. “Young senator, vice president, writes some bestselling books, is hated by the media,” he said. “It kind of sounds like JD Vance. I’ve always liked Richard Nixon.”

The reaction online was swift and scathing—less about whether Nixon can be studied and more about what it means for a sitting vice president to talk about Watergate like it was an overhyped downfall.

Several critics leaned on the specifics of what Watergate actually produced. One post pointed to how. “Thanks to Watergate. ” Nixon’s staff broke into a political opponent’s HQ and into Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office. adding that Nixon himself approved obstructing justice to cover those crimes up. tried to use the IRS to punish enemies. and was “cool with breaking finance law.”.

Others argued Vance’s framing was a kind of permission structure for rule-breaking. One comment claimed the vice president was sending signals to supporters that he would “cheat and lie and steal” on their behalf, while signaling how far politicians might go to hurt the other side.

Vance’s critics also mocked the “deep state took down institutions” narrative. with one post saying it was “insane sharing a country with these people” who they said “just want to destroy the USA.” Another response boiled Vance’s statement down to a distrust-first message. arguing that politicians now signal vice rather than virtue.

What makes Vance’s Nixon defense so volatile is that he didn’t treat Watergate as a closed historical wound—he treated it like a media cycle, something that would be smaller today, and something that—because of the “deep state” framing—could even be made to sound familiar.

By turning Nixon’s fall into a punchline about television hours and by linking Watergate’s end to the political fight around Donald Trump’s first administration. Vance found an instant audience. For his critics. that audience came with a warning: they see the comparison not as history lesson. but as a promise about how power will be handled next.

J.D. Vance Nixon Library Richard Nixon Watergate 12-hour news story deep state Donald Trump impeachment IRS obstructing justice Ellsberg Yorba Linda vice president