expressed his delight upon learning that , a well-known conservative who criticized his own party’s doubts about the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s election victory, will be leaving Congress in the next election. In a twitter post, Trump exclaimed, “Good news for the country!”
During an interview on MSNBC, Buck, who hails from Colorado, announced his retirement, expressing disappointment with the Republican party’s continued reliance on falsehoods surrounding the alleged election theft of 2020, as well as the narratives surrounding the events of January 6th and the imprisonment of individuals connected to those events.
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After the 2020 election, many expected the Republican party to distance itself from Trump. However, despite facing numerous indictments, Trump has actually solidified his control over the party and is currently the overwhelming favorite to secure the party’s presidential nomination for 2024. The departure of figures like Buck only serves to further entrench Trump’s dominance.
Trump, who is responsible for perpetuating the false claim of election fraud, which he utilized to incite the violent attack on Congress in January 2021, used his Truth Social platform to criticize Buck, labeling him as “a weak and ineffective Super RINO if there ever was one,” RINO being an acronym for “Republican in name only.”
Buck, a 64-year-old former federal prosecutor, is a staunch conservative who has emerged as a critic of Trump, even as the former president faces a total of 91 criminal charges, including both state and federal charges related to election subversion, as well as civil trials.
In the past, Buck has spoken out against Trump, referring to the Georgia electoral subversion case against the former president as a “nuclear bomb where a bullet would have been appropriate.” These remarks were made during an interview with MSNBC, a network that Trump has often derisively referred to as “MSDNC,” highlighting its perceived liberal bias and alleged connection to the Democratic National Committee.
Reacting to Buck’s retirement announcement, Trump claimed that Buck knew early on that he could never compete against MAGA (Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again”), insinuating that the congressman is now seeking employment with supposed left-wing outlets such as Fake News CNN or MSDNC, accusing them of being destructive to the country.
Buck reiterated his message to the Republican party in a video shared on social media. He criticized the lies spread by many Republican leaders, including the false claims about the 2020 election, the characterization of the events of January 6th as a harmless tour of the Capitol, and the belief that prosecutions resulting from those events are a misuse of the justice system. Buck argued that these narratives foster widespread cynicism and erode Americans’ faith in the rule of law.
Buck remained committed to the Republican party but did not explicitly state whether he would support Trump for president, suggesting that a “Trump-Biden redo” would present a challenging decision.
