Donald Trump is more 'ignorant of fact' than Richard Nixon, says Watergate reporter

"Trump lives and thrives in a fact-free environment"

“Richard Nixon was nothing, in terms of lying, compared to what we have seen from Donald Trump.”

That's the view of one of America's most well-respected investigative journalists, Carl Bernstein, who exposed the Watergate scandal has said.

Bernstein, whose exposé forced Richard Nixon to resign the presidency rather than face impeachment for a string of illegal 'dirty tricks' and cover-ups, said: “Trump lives and thrives in a fact-free environment.

"No president, including Richard Nixon, has been so ignorant of fact and disdains fact in the way this president-elect does."

Bernstein's work with partner Bob Woodward to expose illegal activity by the Nixon regime has been described as "the single greatest reporting effort of all time".

After being called to a bungled break-in at the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate office complex in June 1972, the pair discovered the Republican president's re-election committee had been wiretapping the Democratic office.

A laundered cheque led the reporters to a slush fund used to fund illicit campaign activities, and thus to Nixon himself. Attempts to sabotage the investigation, destroy evidence and intimidate defendants in the burglars' trial ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in August 1974.

While Nixon was famously forced to declare "I am not a crook" in the months before being driven out of office, President-elect Trump repeatedly pilloried his rival as 'Crooked' Hillary Clinton as he fought his way to the White House.

Entire websites are dedicated to cataloging the untruths allegedly uttered by the billionaire tycoon during the campaign, with the Trump Lies site documenting 1,432 separate lies.

Mr Bernstein has previously attacked Ms Clinton along similar lines, writing that her presidency would be characterised by "high-minded ideals, lowered execution, half truths, outright lies (and imaginary flights), take-no-prisoners politics, some very good policy ideas, a presidential spouse given to wallowing in anger and self-pity, and a succesion of aides and surrogates pushed under the bus when things don't go right. Which is to say, often."