Donald Trump Just Got Punished — Mary Trump

Former President Donald Trump is being punished by Representative Ken Buck suddenly quitting Congress, his estranged niece Mary Trump said.

Buck, a Republican representing Colorado's 4th Congressional District who has voiced frustration with his party over issues such as whether to impeach President Joe Biden and sending Ukraine support as it fights off an invasion from Russia, announced he is leaving Congress at the end of next week. His decision, which came as a surprise to House Speaker Mike Johnson, will shrink the already-tight Republican House majority.

While Buck's decision is viewed as damaging to Johnson, who must now navigate a narrow majority in what has already been a fractured GOP conference, and Representative Lauren Boebert, whose reelection plans are being thrown off by his retirement, Mary Trump argued it's the former president who will "experience the most fallout from this latest House debacle."

She argued House Republicans' chaos could hurt his chances of reelection in November in a Substack post titled "OUCH: Buck Resigning Punishes GOP" on Wednesday night.

She wrote that the GOP's "failure to legislate has serious implications," such as "punishing Donald."

"His leaving congress is 1) bad for his party and 2) really bad for Mike Johnson and Lauren Boebert. So let's call it a win-win," she wrote.

Buck's departure "shines a bright light on the fact that Republican leadership is willing to hurt the American people," Mary Trump argued. She said his resignation is a reminder of Republican leaders rejecting a bipartisan border deal and their "unwillingness" to provide funding to Ukraine

"Swing voters and independents will take notice. Imagine what Joe Biden could do in his second term if Democrats retake the majority in the House?" she wrote. "Once we've eliminated the fascists who keep trying to turn back the clock on our progress, we can go about the business of strengthening our democracy."

Robert Y. Shapiro, a professor of political science at Columbia University, told Newsweek that Buck is "just one more voice out there in the anti-MAGA world," and that anti-Trump Republicans' critiques have "bounced off Trump so far."

However, he warned that it could eventually take a toll on the former president's campaign and that it will be known if "this has legs when voters are paying more attention as we get closer to November."

"But it could cumulatively add up closer to the election, with all of Haley's anti-Trump voters out there," he said.

Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign for comment via email.

Buck, a longtime conservative, increasingly sparred with members of his own party over key issues in the months leading up to his departure announcement. He has been critical of Trump's claims of widespread fraud being to blame for his loss in the 2020 election and hasn't supported efforts to impeach Biden.

His announcement created chaos among House Republicans, as he hinted that up to five other conservative lawmakers, potentially enough to hand a majority to Democrats, may also resign in the coming months.

At home in Colorado, his exit complicates Boebert's reelection plans. Boebert, who presently represents the state's 3rd Congressional District, announced she would run in the more-conservative 4th after Buck said he wouldn't run for reelection.

Governor Jared Polis scheduled a special election to fill Buck's vacancy for June 25th, 2024, but Boebert said she would not run in the special election, focusing on the primary set for the same day. If she ran in the special election and won, she may have had to resign from her current district, creating yet another vacancy in the House.

Update 3/14/24 10:49 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.