On Friday morning, President Donald Trump spoke with Fox & Friends in a nearly hour-long telephone conversation. As part of that discussion, the president revealed that he learned a lot from former President Richard Nixon, who ended up resigning the presidency in August of 1974 over the Watergate break-in.
After a question about the Department of Justice investigating the 2016 election and possible Russian interference, which the show’s host called a “Russian hoax,” Trump discussed what he learned from the disgraced president.
“I learned a lot from Richard Nixon — don’t fire people,” the president told the Fox News morning program, according to a report from The Washington Post .
The president was well-known for saying the phrase “you’re fired” during his reality TV shows, The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice . As president, Trump did end up firing his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, and he eventually appointed William Barr to the position.
Most recently, the Barr-led DOJ dropped the criminal case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, which has caused controversy, The Inquisitr previously reported. The debate is that Flynn already pleaded guilty. In his statement, Flynn admitted to lying to the FBI about having contact with the Russian ambassador.
Another person Trump fired was former FBI Director James Comey, who was part of the investigation into Russian interference in the last presidential election. According to a People report, at least 39 major players in the Trump administration have been fired or left in the three years since he took the oath of office.
TRUMP: “I learned a lot from Richard Nixon — don’t fire people. I learned a lot. I study history … of course there was one big difference: Number one he may have been guilty and number two he had tapes all over the place.” pic.twitter.com/wgzKCumavL
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 8, 2020
The president went on to note that he studies history. Then, later in the interview, President Trump, who was impeached by the House of Representatives last December and but was not removed from office by the Senate in February, elaborated on what he learned by studying what happened with Nixon.
“I learned a lot by watching Richard Nixon. Of course, there was one difference, one big difference: Number one, he may have been guilty and, number two, he had tapes all over the place. I wasn’t guilty, I did nothing wrong, and there are no tapes. But I wish there were tapes in my case. But learned a lot from Richard Nixon, and you don’t do that,” Trump said.
The president spoke with the hosts of the Fox morning show for about 20 minutes before anybody mentioned the coronavirus pandemic, according to Vox . The outbreak has left tens of thousands dead and more than one million infected in the U.S. so far. Plus, unemployment numbers indicate that U.S. workers are jobless at a rate that hasn’t been seen since the late 1930s.