Trump: 'I learned a lot from Richard Nixon'

There are certainly lessons to be learned from former President Richard Nixon. These probably aren't the right ones.

President Trump called in to his favorite morning show Fox & Friends on Friday, discussing the recent dismissal of charges against his short-lived National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. After repeatedly insulting his former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Trump abruptly pivoted to say "I learned a lot from Richard Nixon," namely "don't fire people."

"Of course, there was one difference" between himself and Nixon, Trump said before spelling out two differences. "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," Trump continued.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Of course, Trump didn't necessarily absorb that lesson from Nixon, seeing as he fired not only Flynn and Sessions but ousted dozens of other top officials throughout his tenure.