Thread by @aseitzwald

NEW: Dems have been asking when Republicans will finally break from Trump the way they did from Nixon during Watergate.

Don't hold your breath, it's not going to happen.

Why? We're not in the 1970s anymore... nbcnews.com/politics/donal…

"I really don't think there is any fact that would change their minds," said Rep. Jim Himes, a Dem on the Intel Committee. "We're in a place right now where all that matters to my Republican colleagues is the defense of the president." nbcnews.com/politics/donal…

Former Rep. Bill Cohen, one of the first Republicans to break from Nixon during Watergate:

"The Republican Party today is not loyal to principles as such, but loyal to the person of Donald Trump. He is really a cult figure. Nixon was not a cult figure."

nbcnews.com/politics/donal…

John Dean: "Polarization cannot be a justification for Republican facts, morality and rule of law or a Democratic facts, morality and rule of law... If polarization justifies multiple realities, democracy as we know it has ended." nbcnews.com/politics/donal…

Why haven't televised impeachment hearings moved public opinion the way they did in the 1970s?

There were only 3 networks during Watergate so people had to watch -- 70% of Americans did -- and most believed the news.

69% said they trusted the media to "fully, accurately and fairly" report the news.

Today, 41% do, including only 15% of Republicans. nbcnews.com/politics/donal…

And the mainstream press had been more favorable to Nixon than Trump

Nixon biographer John Farrell: "Nixon's support in the 1972 election was widespread in the press. He was probably endorsed by 90 percent of the nation's newspaper editorial boards."

nbcnews.com/politics/donal…

John Dean has famously said he thinks Nixon might have survived Watergate had Fox News been around.

New NBC News/WSJ poll numbers on approval of impeachment inquiry among...

- MSNBC/CNN watchers: 72%
- Fox News viewers: 30%

nbcnews.com/politics/meet-…