Former GOP speaker says Cruz a ‘reckless a**hole’, and says he repeatedly told Trump to ‘shut up’ when asked for advice
John Boehner reportedly told Texas senator to go ‘f*** yourself’ during audiobook recording last week
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Your support makes all the difference.Former speaker of the House John Boehner has described Texas senator Ted Cruz as a “reckless a**hole” and claimed that he repeatedly told former President Donald Trump to “shut up” when he called him for advice.
The comments featured on the back cover of Mr Boehner’s upcoming book, On The House: A Washington Memoir, which was revealed on Tuesday evening after being obtained by Punchbowl News.
The cover includes short excerpts of Mr Bohener, 71, a former Republican Ohio representative, describing the politicians he came across during his time in the House from 1991 to 2015 and in the years since he retired.
In the short excerpt about Mr Cruz included on the back cover, Mr Boehner writes that “there is nothing more dangerous than a reckless a**hole who thinks he is smarter than everyone else.”
This is the second insult Mr Boehner has aimed at Mr Cruz in recent weeks, as two sources told Axios last month that while recording the audiobook version of his memoir he stopped reading the book to exclaim: “Oh, and Ted Cruz, go f*** yourself.”
The context of the comment is unclear, but Mr Boehner has previously criticised the Texas senator, referring to him as “Lucifer in the flesh” shortly after resigning from public office in 2015.
Mr Boehner made the comments during an address at Stanford University, adding in reference to Mr Cruz: “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.”
During his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, last week, Mr Cruz responded to Mr Boehner’s comments.
“You know yesterday, John Boehner made some news. He suggested that I do something that was anatomically impossible,” Mr Cruz said. “To which my response was, who’s John Boehner?” he added.
The back cover of Mr Boehner’s memoir also teased details surrounding his relationship with Mr Trump during the first couple of years of his presidency.
“Donald Trump: He would call me fairly often when he first took office for advice or conversation,” Mr Boehner wrote.
“But the calls came in less and less as his tenure went on. That’s probably because he got more comfortable in the job. But I also suspect he just got tired of me advising him to shut up,” he added.
The Hill reported that Mr Boehner was friendly with Mr Trump before he ran for president, but the former House speaker has criticised him in recent years.
“There is no Republican Party. There’s a Trump party. The Republican Party is kinda taking a nap somewhere,” Mr Boehner said in 2018.
He also congratulated President Joe Biden on his election victory late last year, saying: “I know you’re sincere in your desire to be a president for all Americans, and I know you’ve got the tools and the heart to get it done.”
Mr Boehner’s memoir, which also features his thoughts on former President Barack Obama and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, is scheduled to be released on 13 April.
A blurb for the book states that Mr Boehner will share “colourful tales from the halls of power, the smoke-filled rooms around the halls of power and his fabled tour bus.”
The Independent has contacted Mr Cruz, Mr Boehner and the Trump Organisation for comment.
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