Fergus Finlay: McCarthy. Nixon. Trump. We've been here before — but this time they might win

An angry man willing on a coup against institutions he vowed to uphold. But, unlike Nixon, Trump will win unless he is stopped

Women at the White House on August 8, 1974 reading about US president Richard Nixon's resignation. Americans do not follow the hearings about Donald Trump as closely as their forebears did about Nixon 47 years ago. File picture

The portrait is indelible. An angry, bitter old man, locked in front of his television set, refusing to admit any truth except his own. For hours he sits, watching the destruction of the US Capitol building he has unleashed and refusing to do anything about it — choosing to wait until it has succeeded or palpably failed. It is a coup against his office and his oath of office, and he wants it to succeed.

Outside the room in which he watches, his acolytes are becoming more and more anxious. People are being clubbed and beaten; shots have been heard. His own deputy, trapped in the building, is at risk of his life.