New York Times bestselling author Evan Thomas said Hillary Clinton has President Richard Nixon’s qualities of suspicion and scandals nipping at her.
Thomas wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed in which he compared the similarities between Clinton and Nixon.
MSNBC host Abby Huntsman said, "You say like Nixon, Hillary sees enemies everywhere. She’s guarded, she’s secretive, and an awkward campaigner hardly comes across as a politician who loves people, or the media, for that matter."
"Hillary is not Nixon; obviously she is not," Thomas said. "But she has some of the same qualities of suspicion and these little scandals that kind of nip at her and she risks making them worse by stonewalling, and by fending them off, and manipulating the press. Didn't work for Nixon. May not work for Mrs. Clinton if she keeps at it."
Clinton has been criticized for her lack of access to members of the press and the number of scandals that she hasn’t addressed.
An excerpt from Thomas' op-ed can be found below:
The political shorthand to describe Hillary Clinton’s resentful, suspicious attitude toward the press is to say that she brings to mind Richard Nixon. Like Nixon, she sees enemies everywhere (and, like Nixon did, she does have a lot of enemies). Like Nixon, she is guarded and secretive. Nixon was, by his own description, an introvert in an extrovert’s business. Hillary is not painfully shy like Nixon, but she hardly comes across as a politician who loves people. Reporters who have long covered the Clintons note that while her gregarious husband Bill likes to be out working the crowd, Hillary prefers to stay holed up in the waiting room for as long as possible.
[...]
A Hillary Clinton White House would also reflect her personality (and, probably, her husband’s). Mrs. Clinton has no doubt learned about crisis management and possibly how to avoid stupid mistakes during her years in and around government. But it is doubtful that her essential character has changed.
She will be easily aggrieved and suspicious about the media. She will be self-righteous about her own essential goodness. She will have a sharp temper, though she will tolerate her husband’s excesses. She will run an aggressive PR operation that will stonewall as long as possible.
With the hindsight of history, we can see that Nixon’s downfall was predictable. Actually, his personality flaws were well known before he was elected. So are Hillary’s.