U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., said Tuesday former President Donald Trump's legal troubles are only proving to be distractions for the Republican Party, and the GOP needs to shift the focus more on fixing what ails the country in order to take back the White House in 2024.
"I think ultimately what we as Republicans need to do if we're going to win the White House in November of 2024 is to talk about the issues that Americans care about and try to get away from the Trump indictments and the scandalous nature of the accusations surrounding this president," Buck, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports." "We need to talk about the border. We need to talk about inflation. We need to talk about crime in the streets.
"Those are issues that Republicans are strong on and need to run on. This is a really difficult distraction to try to win the White House, and especially when the leading candidate is the subject of these indictments."
Buck said not all of his constituents in Colorado's 4th Congressional District, which covers the eastern part of the state, see it that way.
"My constituents are split right now," he said. "We have a lot of Donald Trump supporters in Colorado. They are adamant this president is being treated unfairly.
"We have a lot of other Republicans who want to move on, who are concerned about how Joe Biden is running the country, and they want to see a change.
"Really, I see a divided party at this point."
Buck supports House Republican investigations into alleged influence peddling schemes by President Joe Biden and his family members, but has spoken out against opening an impeachment inquiry into the president, as well as one into Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border crisis.
He said the "noise" surrounding Trump on whatever he does is frustrating to those who want to talk about "substantive issues."
"I can remember when Donald Trump was president and he would tweet something out and it didn't matter what was happening in North Korea or anywhere else, the media wanted to cover the latest tweet," Buck said. "That was frustrating to those of us that wanted to talk about substantive issues.
"It's more difficult now during a presidential election when the news is constantly about Donald Trump and these indictments and his actions during a time of the [2020] election and up to and after Jan. 6 of 2021. I think it is difficult to break through that noise right now and try to get a message — a positive message about where America could be heading under different leadership."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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