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US president Donald Trump has a thing for calling things ‘hoaxes’, whether it be the concept of a ‘carbon footprint’ or the ongoing controversy surrounding the Epstein Files. And now, he’s claimed his first impeachment was a “far bigger illegal hoax than Watergate”.
Yes, really.
As a reminder, the Republican’s initial impeachment (he became the first president to be impeached twice) related to the revelation that he tried to pressure Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating Joe Biden’s son Hunter over alleged impropriety by withholding aid to the country.
And Watergate was the very real scandal surrounding the late US president Richard Nixon, sparked by the arrest of five burglars for breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. in 1972.
In a post to Truth Social on Sunday, Trump fumed: “The Ukraine impeachment (of me!) Scam was a far bigger illegal Hoax than Watergate. I sincerely hope the necessary authorities, including CONGRESS, are looking into this!
“Adam ‘Schiffty’ Shiff was sooo dishonest and corrupt. So many laws, and protocols, were violated, and just plain broken!!!”
Schiff, a former California representative now serving the state in the Senate, was one of the Democratic “managers” of Trump’s first impeachment case.
He soon clapped back at Trump on Twitter/X, writing: “The government has been shut down for nearly half a month. Insurance costs are doubling for millions of families. And you’re still trying to rewrite history on the first bipartisan vote to impeach a US president?
“Put down your phone and focus on ending the Trump shutdown.”
And he wasn’t the only one to criticise Trump for his attempt to rubbish the Watergate scandal, with journalist Adam Cochran expressing disbelief:
Historian Federico Finchelstein argued “the idea is to deny basic facts about how democracy was defended”:
“That’s new,” commented Democrat strategist Jesse Ferguson.
The Watergate scandal was broken by Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, who are yet to comment publicly on Trump’s outlandish claim.
Both of them have been approached by indy100 for comment.
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