Overview
- Vance, who spoke Friday, June 26, 2026, at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, said Watergate would be only a short news cycle today and called it "crazy" that it toppled a presidency.
- He invoked a 'Deep State' narrative by claiming unnamed institutions that pushed Nixon from office also tried to undermine President Trump, but he offered no evidence for that claim.
- Vance compared his own career arc to Nixon's by citing time as a young senator, a vice president, bestselling books, and hostile media coverage as parallels.
- German outlets Stern and Der Spiegel reported the remarks and highlighted that the comments were journalistic accounts rather than new documentary evidence, noting the lack of substantiation.
- The remarks build on Vance's image as an unusually powerful, confrontational vice president and are likely to intensify speculation about his positioning for a 2028 run while deepening partisan polarization and scrutiny of his rhetoric.