Washington DC - Vice President JD Vance compared the Watergate scandal to the treatment of President Donald Trump and said it's "crazy" Richard Nixon had to resign over it.

"I'm actually fascinated by Nixon as a character in history," Vance said during an interview at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum on Thursday. "I think that his historical legacy is enjoying a bit of a renaissance, but I think deservedly so."

"If Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story," he continued. "Like, the idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy."

"And, by the way, 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 Trump administration – there is a parallel!"

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The Watergate scandal was centered around a 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters by operatives linked to Nixon's reelection campaign.

In 1973, Congress launched impeachment proceedings against Nixon in response to the scandal. Under huge amounts of pressure, he was forced to resign in 1974.

The scandal largely seen as an example of how a president can be held accountable for actions taken while in office, but also as a triumph of investigative reporting.

During his first term, Trump was impeached twice – once in 2019 and again in 2021 – over alleged abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and later over incitement to insurrection.

Vance went on to compare Nixon's 1972 Republican coalition to Trump's coalition, claiming that "Nixon maybe could have won a landslide in 2024… He was actually like a political genius."

"Young senator. Vice-president. Writes some bestselling books. Is hated by the media: It kind of sounds like JD Vance!"