Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado continues to antagonize the GOP’s anti-establishment base.
On Monday, Buck criticized Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia for her overreaching and “absurd” quest to impeach President Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, Buck’s attack on Greene and especially his broader anti-impeachment stance has some Republicans considering punitive measures, including a possible 2024 primary challenge to Buck. deep red seat in Colorado’s fourth congressional district.
Since 2020, Buck has drawn the ire of the MAGA wing of the GOP for his vote to certify the 2020 election, his criticism of former President Donald Trump, and his support of Trump enemies such as former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney.
In recent days, Buck has once again upset Republicans by taking a swipe at the establishment media.
According to the New RepublicBuck appeared on MSNBC on Sunday and took shots at Greene over the impeachment.
“Well, Marjorie filed articles of impeachment against President Biden before he was even sworn into office…so the idea that she’s now the impeachment expert or someone who should be timing the impeachment is absurd” , Buck said.
“The time of impeachment is the time when there is evidence that links President Biden, if any, that links President Biden to a felony or a felony,” Buck added. “That doesn’t exist right now.”
Tuesday, after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced that the House would open an impeachment inquiry, Buck appeared on CNN and delivered the same nonsensical message he gave on MSNBC.
Should Buck be principal in 2024?
“I have not seen any evidence linking President Biden to the activities of Hunter Biden at this time,” Buck told host Anderson Cooper. Buck added that he would be debriefed soon, thus hinting that he might change his mind.
Buck also suggested that McCarthy only started the impeachment inquiry in response to pressure from Trump’s allies.
“But the thing is, what President McCarthy is doing is he has President Biden on one side, or I’m sorry, President Trump on the other side, who is calling for the House to open an impeachment inquiry and start an impeachment of the president. Biden, and on the other hand, has spending bills that are coming up, and he needs the support of members of the Republican conference to help pass this continuing resolution and appropriations bills,” Buck said.
GOP Rep. Ken Buck: “At this time I have seen no evidence linking President Biden to the activities of Hunter Biden.” pic.twitter.com/X5l67dAx2H
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) September 13, 2023
Tuesday before CNN reported that some Republicans have grown tired of Buck’s antics. In fact, three GOP sources told CNN that Buck could face a serious primary challenge.
Greene even suggested that Buck has no business serving the Judicial Commission.
“I really don’t see how we can have a member of the Judiciary who flatly refuses to be impeached,” he said.
One Republican described Buck as fully captured by both the establishment and the media.
“Everyone on Capitol Hill knows that Ken Buck has left his work with the Freedom Caucus, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Judiciary Committee so he can try jobs with the television networks or the Biden administration,” the source said. of the GOP. .
“We call it a buckle,” said another Republican lawmaker.
To be fair, Buck still has prominent and magnanimous GOP defenders.
“You can agree to disagree,” the Republican congressman said. Chip Roy of Texas said. “We have slightly different views on what felonies and misdemeanors look like. I’ve studied this and looked at the history, and I’m more than comfortable with an impeachment inquiry. But I’m looking forward to talking about it in person with Ken.
Buck, of course, did not tell the truth about the evidence against Biden.
In a heated press conference on Tuesday, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus and the Republican representative. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania summarized this evidence for any fair-minded listener.
Perry noted, for example, that the Bidens owned homes that could not be afforded on congressional salaries alone. Bank records, shell companies and foreign interest payments help fill in the picture of corruption.
Buck’s inability to see this raises questions about his own motives.
In the 17th installment of “Letters of Cato”, published on February 18, 1721, the great English polemicist John Trenchard described how real political experts deal with accusations of corruption leveled against their nominal opponents.
“They will not suffer any man, who has ever tried authority, even if he be their personal enemies… to be called to account for past crimes, however enormous. They will make no precedents for their own punishment” , Trenchard wrote.
Buck’s immersion in DC politics made him unable to spot the obvious corruption?
Or has it made him unwilling to do so?