People complaining about fake news
in 1973.
In 1973, readers debated whether Watergate was fake news
The most obvious historical parallel to the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice by President Trump is Watergate — which isn’t to say that Trump will resign or be removed from office, but rather that a single scandal has not similarly defined a presidency since the one that prematurely ended Richard Nixon’s second term in office in 1974.
It’s interesting to look back at letters to the editor on Watergate — not from when Nixon’s guilt became indisputable, but some time before that, when Americans were less sure of (or even concerned by) the president’s involvement, and the question of whether to pursue impeachment remained far from settled.
Below are some of the letters from the weeks that followed former White House counsel John Dean’s bombshell testimony in June 1973 to the Senate Watergate Committee. Some of the defenses and criticisms of the president might sound familiar to readers today.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-07-26/watergate-john-dean-1973-scandal-mueller?_amp=true