Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) said that he would not support former president Donald Trump’s bid for a second term if he was found guilty of the charges leveled against him by the Department of Justice, telling CNN’s Dana Bash on Tuesday that he “won’t support a convicted felon for the White House.”
Buck, an outspoken member of the pro-Trump House Freedom Caucus, told Bash that “the allegations are very serious.”
“I think there were national security implications from having documents in an unsecure area,” he continued. “I think that the prosecutor really went into a lot of detail to explain to the American public why it was necessary to indict a former president.”
After Bash read a series of statements from GOP leaders condemning Trump’s indictment, Buck said that he and his colleagues had concerns over unequal enforcement of the law because the Justice Department had decided not to pursue charges against Hillary Clinton and others for their careless treatment of classified information.
“That doesn’t excuse this [Trump’s] conduct, but it certainly raises questions over equal treatment under the law, that’s my only concern here,” argued Buck. “I think this case will go forward and the results will speak for themselves, but we still need to explain to the American public why it is that there’s an apparent disparate impact.”
When Bash asked for Buck’s reaction to a Truth Social post from Trump calling Special Counsel Jack Smith a “Thug” and accusing him of planting evidence to indict him, Buck said it was “very unlikely” that the FBI mishandled evidence in the case. Then Bash inquired if Buck would “feel comfortable with Donald Trump as president again?”
Buck replied:
I would not feel comfortable with a convicted felon in the White House so we’ll see how the case plays out and we’ll see how the evidence is presented and what the defenses are. But let’s just look at Donald Trump’s words in 2016. He said that Hillary Clinton was unfit for the White House because of the way she handled classified information. He said that she wasn’t even qualified to have a low-level State Department job because of the way she handled information. So I think his words have set the standard that America will look at in determining whether he is fit for president.
“What do you, Ken Buck think?” pressed Bash.
“As I said, he’s innocent until proven guilty. After the trial, if he’s convicted of these charges, of mishandling this information, of knowingly concealing his actions, I certainly won’t support a convicted felon for the White House,” reiterated Buck, who later said he was worried that Trump’s legal battles may imperil Republican efforts to retake the presidency.
Trump was arrested on Tuesday afternoon. He pled not guilty to the charges against him.
Earlier this month, but prior to Trump’s indictment, Buck told Bash that he thought that “the multiple investigations and civil lawsuits that have been brought almost give this presidential candidate and former president credibility.”
“He keeps saying that the world is against him because he’s trying to make these changes,” said Buck.
Watch above via CNN.
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