Republican Rep. Ken Buck shut down rumors that former president Donald Trump could be elected speaker of the House. As he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, “That’s not going to happen.”
After he was asked if Trump should be allowed to pursue the role, Buck said, “No, it shouldn’t happen, and we have a lot of talent inside the House. We’ll settle this inside the House Republican Conference, and we will elect someone that will have the unity and the backing of the full Conference.”
The idea of Trump taking the role was floated soon after Kevin McCarthy’s historic ousting.
Host Stephanopoulos had more questions for the Congressman, next asking Buck if he would support Trump as the GOP nominee ahead of the 2024 election. Buck replied, “I will support the Republican nominee for president of the United States because I am so concerned about what President Biden has been doing and where the Democrat Party is taking this country.”
However, Buck was quick to note that he does not “believe a convicted felon should be a president of the United States.” Trump currently faces four federal indictments that include 44 federal charges and 47 state charges (all of which are felonies).
Republicans have yet to name a potential replacement for McCarthy, who was removed as speaker of the House on Tuesday by a vote of 216 to 210.
Buck also told Stephanopoulos that he does not have a candidate for the speaker role in mind, and will not until the Republican Conference “figures out spending,” which he identified as “one of the issues with Kevin McCarthy.”
