Don’t kick around Dick Nixon anymore

Lately, I’ve been reading a slew of publications comparing Donald J. Trump to Richard M. Nixon. Journalists argue that Trump’s deep distrust of the press rivals that of America’s thirty-seventh President. In certain respects, these writers are justified in their observation. Richard Nixon was the first chief executive to create a White House communications team, a coalition ensuring that the press never ensnared the President during a vulnerable moment. 

In 1969, Nixon’s Vice President, Spiro Agnew, delivered a speech that blasted the media as wealthy, unelected tormentors of the administration. Agnew’s popularity skyrocketed, and networks took a less critical view of the President’s future speeches. As Nixon’s political career spiraled under the suffocating Watergate scandal, so did his already-strained relationship with the press. Nixon promised to revoke the Washington Post’s television license after their initial searches into Watergate. Nixon’s aides repeatedly threatened reporters with physical harm as the layers behind the scandal unraveled. In a press conference from October 1973, Nixon implored the American people to look past the media’s coverage of his final year, infamously declaring “I am not a crook.” By the end of his presidency, Richard Nixon had lost his battle with the media, and he sure didn’t go down without a fight. Donald Trump has come into his Presidency swinging at the media, and it’s a lot more dangerous.

Richard Nixon resented the media—this antagonistic relationship boiled over as Watergate transpired. The media, coupled with Nixon’s insecurities, ensured his demise. On the other hand, Donald Trump’s rhetoric could undermine one of the last safeguards we have against executive overreach, the free press. One needs to look no further than Trump’s own Twitter to see the President at work. On February 17, Trump relegated the “FAKE NEWS” outlets, including the New York Times, NBC News, ABC, CBS, and CNN as “the enemy of the American People.” Between Feb. 17 and Feb. 20, Donald Trump composed 14 tweets. Five of them referenced “fake media.” Essentially, only organizations (Breitbart, Fox News) that treat Trump kindly and push a conservative worldview are reconcilable from a “fake news” label. 

This isn’t Richard Nixon. Nixon fought his battle with the media internally, until the walls collapsed around him, forcing him to turn his campaign to the American people. Donald Trump has made this a public effort from the start. Despite the fact that Trump is severely bruised from a hyper-polarized campaign and rocky first month, his approval rating stands at 42 percent. While certainly not all of his supporters are on board with this fake news notion, a healthy number are. Trump and his combative stance towards the media are running strong, as evidenced by his first 2020 re-election rally on the eastern coast of Florida. Trump has proven that he can lead his followers with him, and this next pseudo-populist campaign is aimed at eroding a democratic free press. With a Republican majority in both Congressional chambers—one that is increasingly hesitant to take action as Russian-Trump campaign revelations unfold, we should recognize that we have the judicial system and the press as our last bastions of protection. If Trump continues to deem the press as “fake,” and attempts to delegitimize the rulings of those who oppose him, we see a man who is well on his way to establishing himself as American Dictator.

So let’s be cautious with these Richard Nixon and Donald Trump comparisons. While both thoroughly despised the press, the Trump is attempting to foster mass distrust for our institutions. Nixon lashed out only when it was too late for the American public to discern his innocence. Not to mention that Richard Nixon was arguably the last in a line of effective, moderate Republican Presidents. He created the Environmental Protection Agency, reduced tensions between China and the Soviet Union, and proposed a health care plan that would have covered more people than President Obama’s. And unlike Trump, Richard Nixon may have actually been the victim of voter fraud, thanks to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’ political machine during the 1960 election. We must remember history as we watch the most unique American presidency in modern history unfold.

Kyle Gornick is a Trinity sophomore.