Carl Bernstein: ‘Our democracy, before Trump, had ceased to be working well’

The acclaimed journalist talks about life before Watergate, as portrayed in his new book Chasing History, and life after Trump

Carl Bernstein is crying. He slips an index finger behind his spectacles to push away a tear. He repeats the action to wipe his other eye.

Nearly six decades have passed since Bernstein, a young newsman in a hurry, was told by a colleague that President John F Kennedy was dead. But the gut punch of that moment surfaces as if it were yesterday. “I still have trouble with it,” Bernstein admits, quickly regaining his composure. “It’s very strange.”