John Boehner Does Not Hold Back On His Feelings Toward Ted Cruz
It's been a while since we last heard from former House Speaker John Boehner, who resigned suddenly in 2015, after he faced a no-confidence vote from the House Freedom Caucus, the conservative wing of his own Republican party. He was said to be so relieved by the move that he was heard signing the Disney classic "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" after the press conference announcing his retreat (via Time). In the spirit of bipartisanship, Boehner even played a cameo in former President Barack Obama's retirement video, which aired at the 2016 White House Correspondents' Dinner (via YouTube).
Boehner is now putting the finishing touches to his autobiography, On the House, and as an added bonus, he's voicing the audio book version of his book. But a funny thing happened as he was recording the book, or as he put it on Twitter, after he: "Poured myself a glass of something nice to read my audiobook. You can blame the wine for the expletives."
Axios has learnt that one of those expletives is aimed directly as Texas Senator Ted Cruz; and it appears that during one of the times John Boehner went off script, he said: "Oh, and Ted Cruz, go f*** yourself."
Boehner just wants to be himself: spokesman
Before you wonder whether it is appropriate for a former House Speaker to speak to a sitting senator that way, his spokesman David Schnittger told Axios that John Boehner was no longer in the mood to pretend to be "anything other than himself." It was in this spirit that he both wrote his autobiography and recorded the companion audiobook.
Boehner hasn't held back since he stepped away from office. One day after the January 6 riot that broke out in the U.S. Capitol, he tweeted: "I once said the party of Lincoln and Reagan is off taking a nap. The nap has become a nightmare for our nation. The GOP must awaken. The invasion of our Capitol by a mob, incited by lies from some entrusted with power, is a disgrace to all who sacrificed to build our Republic."
To be fair, this wouldn't be the first time Boehner has been caught telling people how he really feels about Ted Cruz. In 2016, he was quoted as saying "Lucifer in the flesh — I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a b**** in my life" (via Twitter).
Boehner's foul language has the approval of his Twitter followers, one of whom who said: "I blame Ted Cruz for the expletives. I am surprised you do not speak in a constant string of them, given that you have met Ted Cruz and yet cannot un-meet him."