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Boehner Calls Trump His “Buddy” and Cruz “Lucifer in the Flesh”
John Boehner, avatar of the loathed GOP establishment, took the stage at Stanford University Wednesday night to get a few things off his chest:
Much of the discussion — and laughs — focused on Boehner’s views on the current presidential candidates. Segueing into the topic, Kennedy asked Boehner to be frank given that the event was not being broadcasted, and the former Speaker responded in kind. When specifically asked his opinions on Ted Cruz, Boehner made a face, drawing laughter from the crowd.
“Lucifer in the flesh,” the former Speaker said. “I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.”
Boehner described other Republican candidates as friends. In particular, he said he has played golf with Donald Trump for years and that they were “texting buddies.”
…Later, he added that he had known Clinton for 25 years and finds her to be very accomplished and smart.
So, let’s get this straight: Hillary is accomplished and smart, while Ted Cruz is Beelzebub, Infernal Sovereign of the Netherworld. I shouldn’t be surprised that the former Speaker of the House is Trump’s buddy; not many Orange-Americans have made it so far in political circles.
Boehner for the most part accepted Trump as the presumptive Republican nominee, though he did express his surprise at the candidate’s success. While he did not praise Trump’s policies, the former Speaker did say he would vote for Trump in the general election if he becomes the Republican nominee. He said he would not, however, vote for Cruz.
Fellow establishment gadfly Peter King thought Boehner’s remarks were far too kind:
In an interview with CNN, the New York Republican congressman told Wolf Blitzer he agreed with the former House speaker, who called Cruz “Lucifer in the flesh” on Wednesday night.
“Maybe he gives Lucifer a bad name by comparing him to Ted Cruz,” King said.
Thankfully, there was one Republican elected official who was willing to defend Cruz, anti-establishment Sen. Mike Lee:
Published in General
Ted has all the right enemies.
Jim Beam is a hell of a drink.
Silly me.
And I thought the story about Dennis Hastert having sex with young boys was going to be far and away the worst thing from an ex-Republican speaker this week. I guess Boehner is jealous of all the attention and wants to throw his hat into the ring.
Best endorsement of the week.
If Ted Cruz were really Lucifer, John Boehner would’ve already cut a deal with him.
Boehner calls Trump his “buddy” and it may be that Trump calls Boehner “a crybaby that I put in my back pocket after one round of golf, not even at one of my better courses, one of my average courses, in fact below average, I sold it, I made good money on it but I sold it. It was average, like Boehner in fact. Sad, but I sold it, for good money.”
That made me chuckle.
Did he cry when he said it?
“avatar of the loathed GOP establishment”
So nicely put!
Of course, Trump is a centrist Democrat at heart. It’s not surprising that the poster boy of the GOPe loves him.
Too right. Exactly.
The GOP leadership is really the problem, isn’t it? The Trumpsters know these guys are the real problem — they have that much right.
As I said at the time that George Will had Obama over for dinner before Obama was sworn in: The class that George Will is part of is much more comfortable having dinner with Obama than Newt Gingrich.
Nor that the person who is most responsible for his existence as the putative GOP nominee likes him.
This is confusing. Establishment organ National Review came out against Trump. Now Establishment Boehner comes out for Trump!? What is this, Spy vs. Spy?
I don’t think there’s much ideological to read into this… because I suspect it probably comes down to the fact that John Boehner very likely holds Ted Cruz responsible for the fact that he lost his job.
Just plain old human bitterness in its least admirable form.
As amenable as I usually am to any and all Mad references, NR is hardly an “establishment organ.” This is a perfect example of how malleable the concept of “establishment” has become.
At the risk of being naive, what exactly was a surprise about what Boehner said? Or am I missing something? Didn’t everyone know how he felt?
Oh… and so the last Republican presidential nominee has said he won’t vote for the frontrunner in the general, and the last Speaker of the House has said he won’t vote for the runner-up in the general.
And in 2012 you wouldn’t have seen that split coming.
Good luck with that “party unity” thing.
This. This. This.
Every time I see Peter King’s face on TV I find myself clenching my teeth before I even hear what he has to say. It is absolutely no surprise at all that he would despise a Republican who believes in constraining government to it’s constitutional limits.
Indeed. Even Cruz is called “establishment” sometimes. Trump, Cruz, Orange-Americans, NR: all part of the establishment. Did I leave anyone out?
“I just don’t like (Ted Cruz).” — George W. Bush, October 20, 2015
“(Cruz is) not traditional Republican conservative… I like nearly all of (the Republican presidential candidates). Except Cruz.” — Bob Dole, December 2015
John Boehner was the replacement of Dennis Hastert who for some reason ignored the Mark Foley underage sex scandal that cost the 2006 election and who was the savior from Tom DeLay, future Trump endorser Bob Livingston, and Trump promoter Newt Gingrich?
Trump is ready for a hostile takeover of the Republican Party and only 6 senators willing to support Cruz and most of those just recently? Even Lloyd Bentsen supported John Tower to run DOD out of Texas loyalty while John Cornyn stands by ready to work with Trump?
Veteran warriors Tom Cotton, Dan Sullivan, and Joni Ernst are on the sideline while Lindsey Graham is not?
Trump hater Rand Paul is too proud to endorse? Trump barely won Kentucky and a few other states like Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The anti-Trump vote needed to come together in these states. Rubio could have been vice president, or even president, if the two Cuban-Americans could have cooperated a bit.
Governor Scott Walker steps up to support Cruz while the renowned conservative Indiana Governor Mike Pence … takes a nap?
What has happened to this party?
Your title tells us all we need to know about Speaker Boehner.
Please add to the list that Ted Cruz is the only Senator in recent memory to call out his majority leader a liar on the Senate floor.
Nothing happened to this party.
Scott Walker fought entrenched interests and Dole/Bush/Boehner are/were entrenched interests.
Republicans are for more gov’t. Cruz threatens their nest.
Man, that is good.
Agreed. Dole gets the same kind of pass from me that McCain gets because he is a genuine war hero. That said if I was an older man, I’m sure I would have fought against Dole a lot.
Every time you think the line has been crossed this election …
Let’s not forget that Peter King helped funnel money and supplies to the provisional IRA.
Over on Twitter, I think I detect a bit of jealousy on Justin Amash’s part. He claims Boehner has called him worse things, but here comes Ted to threaten his position on Boehner’s hate list.
By the way, now would be a good time for some of the usual suspects to tell us that there is no such thing as a GOPe.