Ken Buck was trending Tuesday on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter after one of his regular appearances on CNN to explain why he keeps rejecting Republican House speakers.
Buck voted against Jim Jordon on Tuesday, who lost the first ballot by 20 votes — a wider margin than former Speaker McCarthy’s loss by eight votes. Steve Scalise dropped out of the race after he failed to secure enough support to win a floor vote.
Here’s Buck’s response to his vote to CNN:
Ken Buck was just asked about his vote for Speaker…
“Do you really want Tom Emmer to be Speaker?”
BUCK: “No, I don’t. I don’t like Tom Emmer”
Seriously….?
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 17, 2023
Buck later appeared on MSNBC to explain he was just joking, which makes sense, as vacating the speaker in the middle of a critical session certainly looks like a big joke on us all.
Buck then predicted to MSNBC that Jordan will lose even more votes today if it goes to another round of voting.
Buck is bucking any speaker unless they disavow Trump’s insistence the 2020 election was stolen by the Democrats, because that’s the litmus test every Republican candidate will have to fight in their reelection bid next year.
Very few Republicans will want a speaker campaigning or raising money for them if the media and Democrats can destroy their character so easily by linking them to Jan. 6 and painting them as MAGA destroyers of the universe.
And Buck’s not wrong.
The problem is, Buck’s doing the Democrats’ work for them by blabbing to the audiences of CNN and MSNBC, when it’s the conservative audiences of those other news outlets who must be convinced.
Jordan is well suited to his role as the party’s flame thrower on the Judiciary Committee because that’s what it will take to get to the bottom of President Biden’s financial dealings with foreign agents.
As House speaker, not so much.
Buck opposed Steve Scalise for the same reasons, and voted out former Speaker McCarthy because he said the House was too dysfunctional.
Compared to what, we’d like to know.
And now Buck says he cast his vote for GOP Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota instead of Jordan as a joke.
Moderates are comparing Buck’s newfound media commentary role fondly to that of maverick U.S. Sen. John McCain, while conservatives are complaining Buck’s starting to act like McCain and Mitt Romney.
They’re not wrong.