--- title: John Dean Tells Samantha Bee Trump Is Worse Than Nixon description: Watergate conspirator John Dean said Trump is worse than Nixon during an appearance on 'Full Frontal with Samantha Bee'. canonical: https://time.com/4801177/john-dean-on-trump-and-nixon/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-01T15:54:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:05:02.901Z og:title: John Dean Tells Samantha Bee Trump Is Worse Than Nixon og:description: "We could have a war so easily" og:url: https://time.com/4801177/john-dean-on-trump-and-nixon/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d366e8134fd6264/6988cfc68fd2eeacb635750f/johndean.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1266 og:image:height: 712 og:image:alt: JohnDean og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John Dean Tells Samantha Bee Trump Is Worse Than Nixon twitter:description: "We could have a war so easily" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d366e8134fd6264/6988cfc68fd2eeacb635750f/johndean.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Nixon Counsel John Dean Tells Samantha Bee Trump Is More Worrisome > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=1a33df8b-bc2d-4549-b7d3-35e5cc526511&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Comparing James Comey's Firing to Richard Nixon [Watch (HLS stream): Comparing James Comey's Firing to Richard Nixon](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rzpxxq3y.m3u8) (1:55)  _Published 2017-05-11. When President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, people were quick to cry Nixon._  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jun 1, 2017 3:54 PM UTC When President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, people were quick to cry Nixon.  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jun 1, 2017 3:54 PM UTC [Samantha Bee](http://time.com/collection/2017-time-100/4742710/samantha-bee/)‘s latest installment of _Full Frontal With Samantha Bee_ on Wednesday night was a blast from the past, as she channeled old school talk show host Dick Cavett to interview former White House counsel [John Dean](http://time.com/3083269/john-dean-why-nixon-risked-his-presidency/), a pivotal witness and target [in the Watergate scandal](http://time.com/3079519/the-fateful-vote-to-impeach/). Using a studio set that recalled Cavett’s old talk show (where Dean gave an infamous interview post-prison and Watergate scandal,) Bee pulled no punches when grilling Dean when holding President Donald Trump up against Dean’s former boss, President Richard Nixon. Cavett himself was on deck, ready to help with any aspect of the interview process that Bee might have missed Some of Trump’s critics have compared him to Nixon after [the firing of FBI Director James Comey](http://time.com/4799869/james-comey-testimony-donald-trump/), however Dean said he believed that Trump poses a larger threat to the country than his former boss. “Never did Nixon give me a knot in my stomach about what could happen to the country and the world under this guy’s leadership,” Dean said. Dean later elaborated, citing the possibility of war. “The more difficult problem for me is, once he’s up on the learning curve and we take this authoritarian personality and turn him loose, we could have a war so easily,” Dean said. Bee then issued a call to action to Trump’s White House Counsel to do their civic duty like Dean did before them, posing the question, “Who’s the John Dean of Trump?” Watch the full clip below. ## Transcript [00:03] Well I'm not a crook. On October 20th, [00:07] 1973, President Nixon ordered Justice Department [00:09] officials to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox who [00:13] had been appointed to investigate the Watergate [00:13] scandal. Both the attorney general and the deputy [00:15] attorney general refused the president's orders and [00:17] resigned. Nixon's new acting attorney general. Robert [00:19] Bork complied and fired Cox, which effectively [00:22] dismantled the investigation. Cox's firing [00:28] prompted heavy criticism, [00:33] and was seen as a key point [00:38] in the events that led [00:45] to Nixon's eventual resignation. [ MUSIC ] [00:54] I shall resign the presidency effective at noon [00:57] tomorrow. Vice President Ford Will [01:01] be sworn in as president, at that hour, in this office. [01:05] More than 40 years later, the Trump Administration [01:05] has been clouded by an ongoing FBI investigation into [01:05] potential communications between members of his [01:08] campaign, and Russia during the 2016 election. [01:15] The FBI, as part of our counterintelligence [01:19] mission Is investigating the Russian government's [01:23] efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. [01:25] Trump fired James Comey shortly after Comey [01:29] requested more resources for the agency's Russia [01:32] probe. Why did you fire Director Comey? Because he [01:35] wasn't doing a good job, very simply. He was not [01:38] doing a good job. But while many people have drawn [01:40] parallels, historians note the two situations are not [01:40] exactly the same, as Nixon did not fire the head of [01:45] the FBI. 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