President Richard Nixon made another comeback Sunday as the Clinton and Trump campaigns sparred over which presidential candidate is the most Nixonian.
Republican vice-presidential nominee Mike Pence said the FBI’s Friday release of notes from Democratic presidential vominee Hillary Clinton’s interview on classified emails come as more proof of her lack of transparency.
“It’s just more evidence that Hillary Clinton is the most dishonest candidate for president of the United States since Richard Nixon,” said Mr. Pence on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Meanwhile, Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Kaine linked the Watergate scandal to Republican nominee Donald Trump’s quip about how Russian hackers should find Mrs. Clinton’s missing emails.
“A president was impeached and had to resign over an attack on the DNC [Democratic National Committee] during a presidential election in 1972. This is serious business,” Mr. Kaine said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“So contrast the Hillary situation, where the FBI said there’s no need for legal proceedings, with an attack that is being encouraged by Donald Trump on the DNC by Russia similar to what led to resignation of a president 30 years ago,” Mr. Kaine said.
He referred to Mr. Trump’s comment in July after the DNC servers were hacked in which the Republican said, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.” He followed up by saying he was being sarcastic.
Nixon resigned in August 1974 after attempting to cover up his administration’s involvement in the 1972 break-in at DNC headquarters at the Watergate office complex.
The Nixon comparison has become a regular feature of Mr. Kaine’s stump speech. In campaign appearances last week, he said Mr. Trump had refused to release his tax returns even though Nixon did.
FactCheck.org said Friday that Mr. Kaine had muffed the comparison, pointing out that Nixon released his taxes after the 1972 election, not on the campaign trail.
“Nixon has an interesting history regarding tax returns, but Kaine is botching the facts some,” said FactCheck.org’s Robert Farley.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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