Vice President JD Vance, speaking at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library to promote his new book, suggested that the Watergate scandal that forced Nixon’s resignation would receive only fleeting media coverage if it happened today, comparing it to a brief news cycle. He also argued that a “deep state” had targeted Nixon similarly to how it later targeted Donald Trump. His comments drew rebukes from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and economist Peter Schiff. Clinton contrasted the Republican response to Watergate—which led to Nixon’s exit—with the party’s current deference to Trump, whom she called a “cult leader.” Schiff claimed Vance wants to take the GOP back to the Nixon era and noted the party had already shifted ideologically under George W. Bush and Trump.