Former GOP House Speaker John Boehner calls Ted Cruz a 'reckless asshole who thinks he is smarter than everyone else' in book excerpt

<p><img src="https://static3.businessinsider.com/image/606716b6902281001950ab9a-1280/GettyImages-489996224.jpg" border="0" alt="Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, answers questions on his opinion on the resignation of Speaker of the House John Boehner at the Values Voters Summit at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington D.C., Friday, September 25, 2015." data-mce-source="Al Drago/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, answers questions on his opinion on the resignation of Speaker of the House John Boehner at the Values Voters Summit at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington D.C., Friday, September 25, 2015."></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>Former House Speaker John Boehner didn't mince words when reflecting on his ex-GOP congressional colleagues, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas who he called "dangerous" and a "reckless asshole," in an excerpt of his forthcoming book.&nbsp;</p><p>"By 2013 the chaos caucus in the House had built up their own power base thanks to fawning right-wing media and outrage-driven fundraising cash," Boehner wrote in "<a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250277183">On the House</a>: A Washington Memoir," a portion of which was <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/04/02/john-boehner-book-memoir-excerpt-478506">published in Politico on Friday</a>. "And now they had a new head lunatic leading the way, who wasn't even a House member. There is nothing more dangerous than a reckless asshole who thinks he is smarter than everyone else. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Senator Ted Cruz."</p><p>This isn't the first time Boehner, who served as House speaker from 2011-2015, has made his dislike for Cruz known. <a href="https://www.axios.com/boehner-ted-cruz-new-memoir-df75a3a2-5f03-434c-8425-2f072eceec0e.html">Axios reported</a> in February that Boehner went off-script in the recording of his book and, when discussing Cruz, added, "Oh, and Ted Cruz, go f--- yourself."</p><p>And in 2016, Boehner called Cruz "Lucifer in the flesh."&nbsp;</p><p>"I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life," Boehner said during a talk at Stanford University.&nbsp;</p><p>Boehner had comparatively nicer things to say about former President Barack Obama than he does about a whole segment of his own party, which he argues has succumbed to "paranoia" and is led by conspiracy theorists. Boehner wrote that while Obama didn't do enough to appeal to Republicans in Congress, it would've been difficult for him to negotiate with a party&nbsp; led by "right-wing propaganda nuts" and "kooks on YouTube spreading dangerous nonsense" about the then-president.&nbsp;</p><p>"[Obama] could come off as lecturing and haughty. He still wasn't making Republican outreach a priority," Boehner wrote. "But on the other handhow do you find common cause with people who think you are a secret Kenyan Muslim traitor to America'"</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/john-boehner-calls-ted-cruz-a-reckless-asshole-book-excerpt-2021-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-travel-during-coronavirus-outbreak-planes-airports-virus-2020-3">Here's what it's like to travel during the coronavirus outbreak</a></p>
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