Vance says Watergate would be a 12-hour story

Watergate would – Vice President JD Vance, promoting his memoir, said the Watergate scandal that toppled President Richard Nixon would have played out as a “12-hour news story” in today’s media environment—while drawing sharp parallels to what he describes as efforts by “deep s

When JD Vance stepped onto the grounds of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library on June 26, he wasn’t just talking about his next book. He was rewriting the clock on one of America’s most infamous political collapses.

Vance, speaking with the Richard Nixon Foundation as he promoted his memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” said the Watergate scandal—an event that led to Nixon’s resignation in 1974—would have been a “12-hour news story” in today’s media environment.

“The idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy,” Vance said during the conversation. His remarks landed with extra weight because Watergate didn’t unfold quickly. It unraveled over months, and it ended with a resignation that came only after reporting and legal pressure converged.

Vance used that long arc to make a different point—about the fight he says Trump is facing now. He suggested there were echoes between Nixon’s downfall and the controversies he believes surround Trump.

“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 administration,” Vance said.

He went further during the same exchange, comparing himself to Nixon and arguing that they share certain similarities. “Young senator, vice president, writes some bestselling books, is hated by the media,” he said. “Kind of sounds like JD Vance.”

Vance’s book, which explores his conversion from Protestantism to Catholicism in the summer of 2019, is set to launch on June 16.

The 2028 question sits nearby in the subtext of the talk, but no clear announcement followed. As of now, Vance has not formally announced an intention to run for president in 2028. Trump, for his part, has declined to name Vance as a successor.

Still, Trump has said he sees a political future for Vance. During an event on May 11. Trump said Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio—another potential White House hopeful—would make a “perfect ticket” for a run in the next presidential election. Trump added, “I do believe that’s a dream team, but these are minor details. That does not mean you have my endorsement under any circumstances. ” before saying. “I think it sounds like presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate.”.

The Watergate story Vance invoked began long before the media cycle fixation of the modern era.

In the early morning of June 17. 1972. a night guard at a Washington. DC. hotel and office complex noticed a suspiciously taped-open exit door. according to the FBI. The scandal then widened after then-Acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray was notified about the break-in at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters. Through a teletype sent on the day of the incident. Gray learned that one of the arrested was the security officer for the committee to re-elect then-President Nixon.

From there, Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein began connecting the dots between the Watergate burglars. At first, their reporting received little attention, and Nixon was reelected in November 1972. But as evidence continued to pile up. their work laid bare a conspiracy that included “break-ins. political dirty tricks. laundered money. illegal spying. and obstruction of justice. ” according to Investigative Impact.

In 2012, Bernstein and Woodward later wrote, “Nixon had turned his White House, to a remarkable extent, into a criminal enterprise.”

A key element of the public mystery became the question of who was feeding information from inside the FBI. One of the primary sources for the journalists was code-named “Deep Throat. ” who was later revealed as Mark Felt. a top FBI official during the scandal. per Investigative Impact. Felt initially denied being the secret source during an appearance on “Face the Nation” in August 1976. But before his death, his daughter persuaded him to come clean.

Taken together. the facts trace a timeline that’s hard to compress without losing something essential: a taped-open exit door on June 17. 1972; a teletype that put the committee’s security officer among those arrested; early reporting that drew little notice; and then a steady accumulation of evidence that culminated in Nixon’s resignation in 1974 after an impeachment inquiry by the House of Representatives.

That history sits at the center of Vance’s provocation when he says today’s media would have turned Watergate into a shorter spectacle. For him. it’s a way to challenge how quickly a presidency could be brought down—or how quickly it could be targeted. For the people living through the consequences of Watergate. it’s a reminder that the story wasn’t just about headlines. It was about investigations, legal actions, and a process that didn’t end until Nixon himself stepped aside.

After all, Nixon didn’t resign in a vacuum. He inserted himself into an obstruction of justice case by talking with an aide about blocking the FBI investigation, a move that helped push events toward an impeachment inquiry by the House of Representatives and eventually his resignation.

Now, as Vance promotes “Communion,” his remarks leave a clear impression: he sees the Nixon era as a template—and he believes the current moment is shaped by institutions and groups working behind the scenes.

JD Vance Watergate Richard Nixon Presidential Library memoir Communion 2028 presidential run Donald Trump deep state Marco Rubio