Watergate figure John Dean says Nixon 'would never have attacked democracy' like Trump did

President Trump's "full-frontal attempt to undermine the integrity of the vote" from the White House podium on Thursday night was swiftly slammed by Democrats, nonpartisan analysts, historians, and a handful of Republicans, The Associated Press reports. Trump "had spent months laying the groundwork for such a moment," and while his "diatribe was in line with his past misstatements about U.S. elections, it was still a watershed event to hear the president of the United States so thoroughly run down the conduct of an American election in real time, triggering fresh anxiety about prospects for a peaceful transition of power."

"On his darkest day, Richard Nixon would never have attacked democracy the way Donald Trump has now done," John Dean, who served as Nixon's White House counsel during Watergate, told AP. "At the potential of losing, Trump has shamed himself and soiled the American presidency. God save us when he actually loses."

Nixon resigned after a group of congressional Republican leaders told him he would be removed from office otherwise, presidential historian Michael Beschloss noted on Thursday.

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Beschloss said there hasn't been a similar response from today's GOP leaders, unfortunately. "One of the worst things any president could do is to lie and exacerbate deep national differences to advance his own selfish interest," he said. "Always remember who aided and abetted this abuse of presidential power — and those who tried to stop it."

Previous presidents thwarted by history or the electorate accepted their downfall with dignity and respect for democracy, American University history professor Allan Lichtman told AP.

Nixon, for example, was a "pragmatist," Lichtman added, and Trump is an "egotists."