Ken Buck Says He Voted for His Friend to Be Speaker Because It’s ‘The Worst Job in America’

Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) joined CNN’s Dana Bash on Tuesday to discuss his Republican colleague Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) failing to get enough GOP votes to become House speaker earlier in the day.

Buck has been a sharp critic of Jordan, particularly slamming the Ohio Republican over his efforts to help keep former President Donald Trump in office after lost the 2020 election.

Buck voted for Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) during the floor vote for speaker, joining 19 other Republicans in voting against Jordan.

“Question is, do you really want Tom Emmer to be speaker?” Bash asked Buck.

“No, I don’t. I don’t like Tom Emmer. I figured this would be the worst job in America. Mike Rowe would not want to do this for his TV show. This is a terrible job,” Buck replied, referring to the Dirty Jobs television show host.

“Okay, So just to underscore that you voted for somebody because you don’t like them?” Bash followed up.

“I voted for somebody because I wasn’t going to vote for Jim,” Buck replied in a somber tone.

“Yeah, but you don’t, it’s not because you want him to be speaker. Okay. Well, that says a lot about where we are right now,” Bash concluded, before moving on.

“Let’s look at what’s next. I should just say for our viewers know that you were one of the eight who voted to vacate and to kick Kevin McCarthy out of the speaker’s chair. You just heard Congressman Gimenez talking to Jake, saying that he does want McCarthy back. Is there any chance that you will have a change of heart?” Bash asked carrying on the interview.

Buck answered, “I’m not going to vote for Kevin McCarthy. As Carlos also said, we have 220 members, 221 members. We’re going to find somebody to agree to and move forward, even if it’s for a temporary basis. But we will find somebody so that we can get our work done.”

While Buck’s admission of disliking Emmer was certainly notable and somewhat odd, he appeared to be completely serious. Buck later noted on Twitter, however, that it was a deadpan joke.

“Just to clarify, this was a joke. The office of Speaker is the hardest job in Washington. I wouldn’t wish that on my good friend @GOPMajorityWhip,” Buck wrote.

Watch the full clip above via CNN.