Nixon behind the mask

President+Donald+Trump+becomes+more+and+more+like+former+president+Richard+Nixon+each+day.+If+history+is+to+repeat+itself%2C+Trump+will+lead+himself+to+his+own+demise.

photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

President Donald Trump becomes more and more like former president Richard Nixon each day. If history is to repeat itself, Trump will lead himself to his own demise.

Chris Bateman, Staff Writer

With all that President Donald Trump has done in the past months, many can see that he is starting to follow in former president Richard Nixon’s footsteps, which led to a resignation from the position of Commander-in-Chief. Carl Bernstein, who was one of the two Washington Post reporters responsible for bringing the former president’s infamous Watergate scandal to light, thinks that President Trump could possibly become worse than Nixon was.

He is probably right, considering that what the world has seen of the Trump presidency is not much different than what it saw from Nixon.

Like Trump, Nixon was known for his many attacks on the media. Within the short time that he has been president, President Trump has already called out The Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN and many others as untrustworthy sources. He is also responsible for the “fake news” epidemic. The symptoms: a widespread distrust of the media. It is clear that the President attempt to marginalize media outlets that criticize him. Contrastingly, when Nixon first became president, he told his vice president, Spiro Agnew, to publicly attack small journalists who were not on their side during the election. Nixon and Trump waged war on the media, trying to instill the idea that the press is the enemy into the American people.

Donald Trump promised to protect the country from the enemy beyond. Today, that enemy is ISIS. Likewise, Nixon promised the American people that he had a plan that would help the U.S. win the war with their enemy beyond at the time, Vietnam. It took him about five years to really fulfill his promise. Americans better hope history does not repeat itself, because the newest president having a “secret plan” to defeat the enemy is too similar to Nixon’s shortcomings.

Trump could get himself impeached, or his loud mouth could eventually put him in a situation where he has no other choice but to resign. Nixon resigned because of his guilt of his involvement in the Watergate scandal and all of the other mistakes he made in his time as president. Chances are Trump will continue to run his mouth.

Trump has done too many things that make him seem a lot like Nixon. His mistakes and empty promises, which are  worthy of skepticism that they often receive, are all too familiar. Nixon may have not done everything that Trump has, but the comparison gets clearer each day. Only time will tell.