Jesse Watters: Media ‘Goading’ Trump To Prosecute Opponents

Jesse Watters: Media ‘Goading’ Trump To Prosecute Opponents

Fox News host Jesse Watters argued during his opening monologue on Wednesday that the left-leaning “mainstream media” is attempting to “goad” President-elect Donald Trump into prosecuting his political opponents to claim vindication.

After playing clips from Trump’s recent interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press anchor Kristen Welker — where she repeatedly pressed him on whether he would be “going after” key Biden administration figures, including President Joe Biden — Watters said, “The media is goading Trump into prosecuting his opponents because they need the ratings and so they can say, see, I told you so, we warned you he is a dictator. It would be the first time the media has been right in 10 years. But it seems like Trump’s toying with the idea.”

In the interview, Trump emphasized that he wasn’t planning to pursue such actions directly, stating that he would leave decisions about prosecutions to his U.S. attorney general, expected to be Pam Bondi, who previously served as Florida’s attorney general during his first term.

However, Trump did express that he believes former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and her January 6 Committee co-chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), should “go to jail.” He stopped short of confirming he would direct Bondi to pursue cases against them, instead saying, “I’m really looking to make our country successful. I’m not looking to go back into the past. I’m looking to make our country successful. Retribution will be through success.”

During the interview, Welker suggested that Trump bore responsibility for the nation’s divisions, a claim he strongly rejected.

“I don’t have to tell you this because you’ve talked about it. It comes at a time when the country is deeply divided, and now you’re going to be leading this country for the next four years. For the sake of unifying this country, will you concede the 2020 election and turn the page on that chapter?” Welker asked.

Trump firmly responded, “No. No. Why would I do that? But let me just say, when you say the country is deeply divided, I’m not the president. Joe Biden is the president.”

“But you’re going to be the president,” Welker interjected.

“I know. I’m not the president. So when you say it is deeply divided, I agree, but Biden is the president, I’m not, and he has been a divider,” Trump stated. “And you know where he divided it more than anything else, and it probably backfired on him — I think definitely — is weaponization, when he weaponized the Justice Department and he went after his political opponent, me.”

He added, “He went after his political opponent violently because he knew he couldn’t beat him. And I think it really was a bad thing, and it really divided our country.”

WATCH:

Trump has also commented following FBI Director Christopher Wray’s announcement on Wednesday that he would resign, likely ahead of Inauguration Day.

Wray’s decision comes after Trump’s recent declaration that he would nominate Kash Patel, a former federal prosecutor and national security expert, as FBI director. Patel served on the National Security Council during Trump’s first term.

Reacting to Wray’s resignation, Trump called it a “great day” for the country and vowed to restore integrity at the FBI and the Department of Justice, which he described as having been politically weaponized under the Biden administration.

“The resignation of Christopher Wray is a great day for America as it will end the weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “I just don’t know what happened to him.”

Trump concluded, “My administration will now restore the rule of law for all Americans.”

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