John Boehner was once a very powerful Republican lawmaker. And as of Friday, he’s one of the most notable haters of Ted Cruz in the Republican party. The Ohioan was once the Speaker of the House, and now he’s got a book he’s promoting that was the talk of Twitter because of some fairly explosive quotes about some of his former co-workers.
The book, “On the House,” promises to include “colorful tales from the halls of power, the smoke-filled rooms around the halls of power.” But mostly what got people talking was the colorful language he used to describe some Republicans he doesn’t seem to like very much.
According to the Boston Globe, Boehner’s new book has a number of swipes at some of his Republican colleagues. Perhaps the most telling comment, which was published in an excerpt in Politico, described the scene in 2010 after midterm elections when a number of new Tea Party-fueled Republicans were elected to the House.
“You could be a total moron and get elected just by having an R next to your name—and that year, by the way, we did pick up a fair number in that category,” he writes.
On their arrival to Congress, things did not improve, in Boehner’s view.
“I had to explain how to actually get things done. A lot of that went straight through the ears of most of them, especially the ones who didn’t have brains that got in the way,” he says.
As the Globe piece mentions, he saves some special ire for Ted Cruz, who wasn’t even a member of the House. But the Texas senator who’s been in plenty of hot water this year got a special shout-out in the new book.
He writes that even from outside the House, Cruz had marshalled the far-right members of the Republican caucus and became what Boehner describes as the “head lunatic.”
“There is nothing more dangerous than a reckless [expletive] who thinks he is smarter than everyone else. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Senator Ted Cruz,” Boehner writes.
As quotes like that made the rounds on Friday, a reported shared on Twitter that Boehner’s disdain for some GOP mainstays is certainly confirmed. Jonathan Swan shared on Friday an audio clip from the Boehner book recording session that was described as “wine-soaked.” It certainly sounds like it, including a rambling moment where, out of nowhere, Boehner tells Cruz to “go f*ck yourself.”
When @SpeakerBoehner was recording his audiobook I was told by sources that during these wine-soaked sessions he would deviate from the book’s text and insert random violent attacks on @tedcruz. Well, here’s some tape (listen to the end): pic.twitter.com/NFCQ2QFdTT
— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) April 2, 2021
“P.S. Ted Cruz: Go f*ck yourself,” Boehner said at the end of a recording for seemingly no reason at all. The audio added insult to injury for Cruz, to say the least. But it’s even more proof that even many of the people seemingly on Cruz’s side don’t seem to like him very much.
[via Politico]