The first year of the Donald Trump presidency is in the books and the majority of the American people are not happy with what took place. In the mind of legendary reporter Carl Bernstein, the worst might be yet to come.

Bernstein on Trump

During the year and a half that Donald Trump was running for president, many wondered just how controversial it would be if he actually won the election.

With his questionable policy proposals and reckless rhetoric, a Trump victory would mean a total change in direction for the United States following eight years of leadership under Barack Obama. Despite the polls showing otherwise, Trump was able to pull off the upset and come out with a win over Hillary Clinton last November.

Since then, Trump has pushed forward with similar antics that have appealed to his base, including his constant targeting of the media and most recently his attacks on the FBI in regards to the ongoing investigation into Russian election interference. These issues and more were discussed during a December 26 interview on CNN with Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein.

Joining CNN host Jim Sciutto on Tuesday night was Carl Bernstein, who along with Bob Woodward, was responsible for breaking the Watergate scandal that took down the presidency of Richard Nixon. When the issue of Donald Trump's administration was brought up, Bernstein didn't hold back his thoughts about the recent attacks on the FBI, who the president referred to as "tainted," as well as the infamous "pee tape" Russian dossier that the commander in chief has labeled as "bogus."

Double down

"The key word that he keeps using is ‘tainted,'" Carl Bernstein said, before noting that the only one "tainted through these months and that is the Trump presidency." "It's tainted by the president's lies, by his disrespect for American institutions operating under the law with traditional American democracy," he added.

Carl Bernstein went on to say that if Donald Trump is as innocent as he claims then he should welcome the current investigation instead of attacking it. "He’s doing a grave disservice to our democracy," Bernstein noted.

Next up

While Carl Bernstein and other reporters continue to take shots at the president and hold his feet to the fire, Donald Trump is showing no signs of slowing down his criticism of the press, the FBI, and the rest of his critics. Despite the rhetoric from the White House and many in the right-wing media, Trump hasn't been very convincing of his argument as the latest polls show his approval rating down to just 35 percent.