Maxine Waters on Trump: ‘What can I do to not investigate him’

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) signaled in an interview Wednesday that it will be tough to work alongside President-elect Trump, claiming he has "no moral compass."

"This is a man who has no moral compass. ... You're asking me to somehow not see all of that, not understand that? That is not possible. He is who he is, and he's going to continue to be whom he is," Waters told NewsNation's Chris Cuomo.

"He said he is going to get retribution from those who have not worked with him, who don't like him. He is out to get people like me. ... What should I do? Talk about, 'I love Trump, I want to work with him'? I think that he is not someone who can ever be worked with."

Trump, who won a decisive victory in the 2024 presidential election Tuesday, has come under scrutiny for his vows to go after critics and perceived "enemies." The former president, who has faced a slew of legal battles in the past year, has also decried that the Biden administration's Department of Justice and many in Congress have unfairly targeted him.

Waters weighed in on the claims during appearance on "CUOMO," noting that when Trump makes his return to the White House, he will only be investigated when "he does bad things."

"What can I do to not investigate him?" she said, adding, "He has been investigated. He has been charged, not because someone was out to get him. It is because he performed ungodly things."

Republicans, who also flipped the Senate on election night, are still hoping to keep their House majority, with votes in key races continuing to be counted. Waters commended those who "worked hard" to run their campaigns earlier in the interview but stopped short of giving the president-elect a compliment.

She also compared Trump to controversial world leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"Donald Trump is whom he is. He is a liar," Waters said. "He is someone who has abandoned his own party in the way that he deals with people."

"At one time, you could think about the Republican Party as being extraordinarily patriotic," she continued. "This is a man who is in line with Putin and Kim Jong Un in North Korea. He doesn't give a damn about patriotism."

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, both Republicans and Democrats — including officials who worked under his first term — have characterized Trump as a "fascist" and "criminal."

Despite being convicted in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made during his 2016 campaign, Trump has adamantly claimed the prosecution was a political attack.

"I never thought anything like this could happen in America," Trump told reporters after leaving the New York courthouse earlier this year. "This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election, and it should be dropped immediately."

He made similar comments after House impeachment proceedings against him during his first term in office.

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