House Speaker John Boehner slammed fellow Republicans Sunday, calling them false prophets for unrealistic expectations for Congress, and reminded everyone that he once called Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) a “jackass.”
Boehner announced Friday that he would resign from his position in late October.
Boehner told CBS “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson that some Republicans had “unrealistic” expectations for how quickly things could be done in Congress because of the way the country’s founding fathers designed the system.
“They wanted this long, slow process,” Boehner said. “And so change comes slowly, and obviously too slowly for some.”
Dickerson asked Boehner if they were unrealistic about what could be accomplished in government.
“Absolutely they’re unrealistic,” Boehner said. “But the Bible says, beware of false prophets. And there are people out there spreading noise about how much can get done.”
Dickerson asked if he considered Cruz, a Republican presidential candidate, a “false prophet.”
Boehner had reportedly called Cruz a jackass at a fundraiser in Steamboat Springs, Colorado last month.
“Listen,” Boehner told Dickerson. “You can pick a lot of names out. I’ll let you choose them.”
“You don’t debate that assertion?” Dickerson asked Boehner.
“I’ll refer you to my remark at a fundraiser I made in August in Steamboat Springs, Colorado,” Boehner responded.
Dickerson asked him to clarify again later in the interview what his comments meant.
“You called Ted — I believe the word you used was jackass, referring to Senator Cruz,” the CBS host said.
“I’m referring to that same remark,” Boehner said.
