In June of 1974, with the Watergate scandal exploding and President Richard Nixon’s approval ratings in the high 20s, the New York Times ran an article that interviewed rural, conservative whites in Holdrege, Nebraska, about their feelings toward the president. These respondents were fierce supporters of Nixon and did not like the way the political system was treating him. The quotes may sound familiar today:
“I can’t believe there’s one dirty thing wrong with Richard Nixon…. Some people did some awful wrong things at Watergate, but you’ll never convince me that Nixon knew of them. Now you talk about dishonesty. What about all those votes the Democrats always steal in Chicago?”
“I’m just not going to believe the president is wrong until he’s convicted. I don’t have that much faith in the news media any more.”
“You can see the gleam in those TV reporters’ eyes when they have bad news.” …
You’ll hear the same defenses today of Donald Trump. CONT.
Seth Masket (U. of Denver), Pacific Standard