STANFORD, Calif., April 28 (UPI) — Former House Speaker John Boehner let loose on Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, saying “I’ve never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.”
The remark came during a question-and-answer session with political science students at Stanford University in California. The bluntness of the quote in its full context is no friendlier to Cruz, the Stanford Daily reported.
“Lucifer in the flesh,” Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said of 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.”
It is not the first time Boehner has likened Cruz to the devil. The two men found each other at odds on Capitol Hill frequently. Boehner regularly struggled to keep the most conservative Tea Party-aligned members of the House GOP caucus in line — and Cruz, who is a leader of the Tea Party movement, often fanned the flames of dissent, making life more difficult for the speaker.
Boehner said he would vote for front-runner Donald Trump if he wins the GOP nomination, but has not said he would do the same for Cruz if he wins.
Though only retired for less than a year, Boehner’s unfiltered takes can still rile his detractors. The Tea Party group Freedom Works circulated a response to Boehner’s comments on Cruz, calling the remarks classless.
“Boehner’s attacks on conservative leaders in Congress isn’t [sic] going to change the fact that he sold out conservatives, time and time again,” the group said. “We hope Boehner finds some class as he continues his retirement. Maybe more time will help him become less bitter.”
Boehner also weighed in on other presidential hopefuls in the 2016 race. He said he’s golfed several times with Trump and the two remain “text buddies.”
He said Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who he has endorsed in the presidential campaign and who served as budget committee chairman in the House alongside Boehner, is a close friend, though someone who can require “more effort than all my other friends.”
He called Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders the most honest politician in the race, but conceded he was likely to lose the nomination to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Boehner also brought up the specter of the FBI investigation into Clinton’s email use while head of the State Department. He hinted she could face criminal indictment, which may lead to a massive shake-up in the race.
“Don’t be shocked … if two weeks before the convention, here comes [Vice President] Joe Biden parachuting in and Barack Obama fanning the flames to make it all happen,” Boehner said.
