Trump says he 'learned a lot from Richard Nixon,' including not to tape his conversations and 'don't fire people'
- President Donald Trump said he's studied history and "learned a lot from Richard Nixon," including not to "fire people."
- Trump claimed there are two main differences between his situation and Nixon's: the former president "may have been guilty" and he had tapes incriminating himself.
- Trump's decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey prompted the Justice Department to appoint another former FBI Director, Robert Mueller, as special counsel.
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During a Friday morning phone interview on Fox News' morning show, "Fox and Friends," President Donald Trump said he's studied history and "learned a lot from Richard Nixon," while reflecting on the federal investigation into his 2016 campaign's ties to Russia.
The president said one of his key lessons came from Nixon, who resigned in 1974 while facing almost-certain impeachment after directing the criminal Watergate break-in. Taped conversations illustrating Nixon's involvement in the criminal conspiracy and his attempts to cover up the wrongdoing by firing top aides helped seal his fate.
"I learned a lot from Richard Nixon. Don't fire people," Trump said.
Trump, who has fired a slew of top staffers over the Russia investigation, including former FBI Director James Comey, said he's glad he didn't fire more people.
"Of course there was one difference, one big difference," Trump continued. "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 called into Fox to celebrate the Department of Justice's highly unusual decision on Thursday to drop charges against his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty twice to lying to the FBI.
During his nearly hour-long conversation on his favorite news program, Trump spent significant time attacking Comey and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who Trump pushed out of office after he refused to dismiss the Russia investigation as a "hoax."