Evan Thomas, author of “Being Nixon: A Man Divided” said that Hillary Clinton “has some of the same qualities of aggrievement, of suspicion, and these little scandals” as Richard Nixon on Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Cycle.”
Thomas began by pointing out that Nixon became “the most powerful politician in the world” despite being “awkward and shy.” He added that while, “Hillary’s not Nixon,” “she has some of the same qualities of aggrievement, of suspicion, and these little scandals that kind of nip at her, and she risks making them worse by stonewalling and by trying to fend them off and by trying to manipulate the press. Didn’t work for Nixon, may not work for Mrs. Clinton if she keeps at it.” Earlier, he had said that Nixon ended up being driven out of the White House because he was overcome by the fear of his enemies.
He continued, “she’s going to have these little scandals that are going to keep biting her. Look, the stuff that she’s involved in now is nowhere near Watergate, it’s not. But, it doesn’t go away. It keeps nipping at her. And I think voters have to realize that she’s not going to suddenly be forthcoming and sunny, and I just don’t think that’s who she is, and her husband has been reckless, you know, in various ways, and that could also come back to haunt her. He’s, — I think he’s wised up in some ways, sure he has. But there is a persistence to the scandal around the Clintons that has to be troubling to their own supporters, and her kind of sense of aggrievance, that doesn’t wear well with the press. Now, you can ignore the press for a while, or you can manipulate the press for a while, but eventually, you have to live with them, and the scrutiny that you get when you’re running for president is just unbelievable. And so, I think we’re going to see more of this tension with the press.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.