Colorado’s Representative Ken Buck recently made a bold move by announcing he won’t run for reelection. Why? Because “he refuses to lie for the GOP.” Buck has always been a strong conservative. He believes in limited government and individual freedom. But lately, he has noticed a troubling trend of dishonesty in politics.
And now, he’s had enough of spreading false information just to please his party. Buck, who made the announcement last November, told the NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday” that although his aspirations for the country remain the same. However, he mentioned that the surrounding world “has changed dramatically.”
“We’ve gone from a time when the Tea Party stood for conservative principles, for constitutional principles, to a time where the (populists) have taken over the Republican Party and are really advocating things that I believe are very dangerous,” he told host Chris Stirewalt in an interview that aired Sunday. When questioned about his departure from Congress, Buck mentioned that several factors contributed to his decision.
“The MAGA crowd ran a primary against me last time. I won 75-25. I’m not concerned about [a] primary, I’m not concerned about losing a general election. You know, the time is right. I’m at a point in my life where I want to do different things. I want to enjoy my family more, I want to (do) less business travel and more recreational travel. There are a lot of things that went into the decision,” he said.
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“But really we’re at a time in American politics, that I am not going to lie on behalf of my presidential candidate, on behalf of my party. And I’m very sad that others in my party have taken the position that, as long as we get the White House, it doesn’t really matter what we say,” he added.
Buck has criticized certain members of his party for propagating unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Trump. Buck refused to support Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan for the Speakership last fall despite voting to certify the election results.
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This was due to concerns regarding Jordan’s actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Jordan had aligned with efforts to overturn the election results, raising red flags for Buck. As a result, Buck distanced himself from Jordan’s bid for leadership.
In a recent NBC interview on Thursday, Buck disclosed that his decision not to support Jordan’s bid came at a personal cost. He revealed that his office received four death threats. “Right now is this constant barrage of phone calls, we have–I have six full-time people answering the phones,” he said. Out of 20,000 messages, he added, “So far I’ve had four death threats.”
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On the contrary, Trump has mocked and commended Buck’s choice not to pursue reelection. He described it as a “positive development” for the Republican Party. “Good news for the Country! Congressman Ken Buck of Colorado, a weak and ineffective Super RINO if there ever was one, announced today that he won’t be running again, which is a great thing for the Republican Party,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
Trump also suggested that Buck might take a job as a media commentator at a left-leaning news outlet. He made a jest that the rep would follow the footsteps of other former lawmakers. “They can have him, and watch their Ratings go down still further,” he said, “if that’s even possible.”
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