Incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), who cried during an emotional speech on election night, let the tears flow once again in an interview with Leslie Stahl of “60 Minutes” which aired Sunday.
Stahl asked him why he got choked up on election night.
“Talking, trying to talk about the fact that I’ve been chasing the American dream my whole career,” Boehner said.
“Some things, there are some things that are very difficult to talk about. Family, kids — I can’t go to a school anymore, I used to go to a lot of schools. You see all these little kids running around, can’t talk about it,” Boehner said. “Making sure that these kids have a shot at the American dream, like I did, is important.”
“What you see is what you get,” Boehner added. “I know who I am and I’m comfortable in my own skin, and everybody who knows me knows that I get emotional about certain things.”
Boehner, who has been ribbed by President Barack Obama for what some call his orange skin tone, claimed his skin color is all natural.
“I’ve never been in a tanning salon in my life, I’ve never used a tanning product in my life,” Boehner said. His wife said he’s had dark skin since she’s known him.
Boehner teared up once again (“No, no, my nose is running,” he joked) during the part of the interview with he and his wife Debbie Boehner, who said it hadn’t yet set in that her husband would be the Speaker of the House.
“He cries all the time?” Stahl asks.
“No but he’s going through an emotional period too, as you said this isn’t an ordinary job,” Debbie Boehner said.
Boehner also said he found “common ground” with Democrats on the Bush taxes cuts by agreeing to extend them two years instead of make them permanent, but said he rejects using the word “compromise.”
Relevant video starts after the six minute mark:
