Outgoing Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado recently said that he chose not to seek reelection in 2024 because he refused to “lie” on behalf of the GOP, The Hill reported.
The five-term congressman announced on November 1, 2023, that he would not seek a sixth term in office. At the time, Buck cited the refusal of many in the GOP to accept the outcome of the 2020 presidential elections or condemn the Januar 6 riot.
In his video announcement last year, Buck said today’s Republicans ignored “self-evident truths” like limited government and the “rule of law” in favor of “self-serving lies.”
In a March 3 interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” Buck told host Chris Stirewalt that even as his priorities for the country remained the same, everything else around him “changed dramatically.”
He said Republicans once “stood for” the Tea Party’s conservative principles, but now, populists have overtaken the GOP and are “advocating things that I believe are very dangerous.”
When asked by Stirewalt why he chose to retire from Congress, Buck cited several factors in his decision.
He noted that “the MAGA crowd” tried to primary him in 2022, noting that he still won the primary by 50 points. He said it wasn’t because he was concerned about facing a primary challenge or losing the General Election. Instead, he explained that the time was right for him to “do different things,” like spending more time with his family and enjoying “more recreational travel.”
However, the primary reason Buck cited for leaving Congress was the current state of American politics, explaining that he wasn’t “going to lie” on behalf of the Republican nominee or the GOP.
He told Chris Stirewalt that it saddened him that others in the GOP hold the position that as long as the Republicans win back the White House, what they say or do doesn’t matter.
