Former GOP Speaker Denounces ‘Reckless A-hole’ Cruz In New Book

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Former House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is not pleased with the Republican Party and the newly-released excerpts of his forthcoming book make his disdain quite clear.

On Friday, April 2, excerpts from the 12-term lawmaker's new book On the House: A Washington Memoir were published by Politico. Boehner recalled an orientation he conducted for the influx of freshman lawmakers elected in 2010. Although Republicans managed to fair well in that primary election, Boehner admits in his book that he was not very fond of the new group of lawmakers.

"I had to explain how to actually get things done," Boehner said. "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. Incrementalism? Compromise? That wasn't their thing. A lot of them wanted to blow up Washington. That's why they thought they were elected."

He added, "To them, my talk of trying to get anything done made me a sellout, a dupe of the Democrats, and a traitor. Some of them had me in their sights from day one. They saw me as much of an "enemy" as the guy in the White House."

Boehner also admitted that around that time, the Republican lawmakers' political ammunition was based solely on their stark disapproval of former President Barack Obama.

"People really had been brainwashed into believing Barack Obama was some Manchurian candidate planning to betray America," Boehner wrote.

The former lawmaker went on to share the moment he realized the Republican Party was approaching an uncomfortable impasse. When he pushed back against the baseless claims about Obama's birthplace, Boehner noted that he faced stark criticism for doing so despite telling the truth.

"My answer was simple: 'The state of Hawaii has said that President Obama was born there. That's good enough for me,'" Boehner said. "It was a simple statement of fact. But you would have thought I'd called Ronald Reagan a communist. I got all kinds of shit for it—emails, letters, phone calls. It went on for a couple weeks. I knew we would hear from some of the crazies, but I was surprised at just how many there really were."

Boehner also lambasted his political party for spiraling into "crazytown" and entering a state of heightened paranoia as he expressed concerns about the dangers of a "reckless a--hole" takes center stage. He made it clear he was referring to none other than Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Boehner's book, On the House: A Washington Memoir, is set to be released April 13, 2021.