commentary Donald Trump's graphic display in front of children in the Oval Office should be the GOP's wake-up call Published May 8, 2026 9:40AM (EDT) Donald Trump and Richard Nixon (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images) After Donald Trump ’s cringe-worthy interaction with school-aged children in the Oval Office on Tuesday to promote his administration’s revival of the Presidential Fitness Test, I got a phone call from an aging former Republican officeholder who said seeing Trump interact with kids was like watching Richard Nixon’s “ Checkers Speech .” He was referring to a televised address that Nixon, then a California senator and Dwight Eisenhower’s running mate, gave in the heat of the 1952 presidential campaign in which he exploited his eldest daughter to rebut serious charges of using a secret campaign fund for personal use. Part of the accusation was aimed at a cocker spaniel the Nixons were given by a supporter that his six-year-old daughter Tricia had named Checkers.…