Meaning: one Benghazi revelation away from impeachment

Question

Spoiler alert: he's siding with his friend Vladimir Putin and not with President Obama, whom the action star believes is one Benghazi revelation away from impeachment.

I can't get the meaning of one Benghazi revelation. How do I have to understand it? Please, break it down for me. I asked a friend of mine who is a native English speaker from North Carolina and his answer was this: Benghazi was a scandal for Obama. it means that he thinks Obama is in a tenuous position. Well, that doesn't cut as an answer for me. I need to really understand the inner workings of the phrase.

Much appreciated.

Answer 1

You said it's the phrase one Benghazi revelation that is puzzling you. It might be clearer if you mentally re-write it as one Benghazi-type revelation. One more scandal of the type that Obama was embroiled in over Benghazi could cause his downfall.

If it's one...away that is the problem, a parallel case would be we are three days away from Christmas, meaning three days will pass before Christmas arrives. If you regard Obama's career as a series of scandals, it means (according to the speaker) that he has only one more to go before he is impeached.

Answer 2

The Benghazi thing was a scandal. What they're saying is: One more scandal, and he's out. (Only one scandal of that magnitude is between him and his impeachment) I believe one could use other examples of scandalous events there. Mr. Putin is one Crimea away from... well, actually, he can't be impeached so it's rather moot ;) Let's say ... away from losing our trust forever.