John Boehner calls Ted Cruz "Lucifer in the flesh," "miserable" SOB

CBS News ^ | April 28, 2016 | Reena Flores

[Rennes Templar]

John Boehner sounded off a litany of insults for Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz Wednesday night, labelling the Texas senator "Lucifer in the flesh" and a "miserable son of a bitch."

"I have Democrat friends and Republican friends," the former House speaker said during a frank on-stage discussion at Stanford University Wednesday. "I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life."

Boehner, who retired from Congress at the end of October, also let loose on the two other GOP candidates in the race.

Of his relationship with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Boehner said that he was "my friend, and I love him" -- but with the caveat that Kasich "requires more effort on my behalf than all my other friends."

Boehner said he was on friendly terms with Republican front-runner Donald Trump, adding that he often played golf with the New York business mogul and billing their friendship as one between "texting buddies."

The ex-congressman seemed to accept that Trump would be the party's nominee and said that he would vote for him if that prediction came to pass. Boehner said he would not, however, cast a ballot for Cruz if the Texas senator won the nomination.

Boehner also weighed in on the Democratic primary contest, according to the Stanford Daily, the university newspaper that first reported Boehner's comments. The former House speaker praised Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as the most honest politician in the White House race. Of Clinton, who he has known for 25 years, Boehner called her accomplished and smart.

[Maceman]

This proves that Boehner has become a Freeper. Wonder what his username is.

He sounds like every other Trump fan girl on this site.

DISCLAIMER: I voted for Cruz in my state primary, but I will vote for Trump if, as seems inevitable, he wins the Republican nomination.

Cruz has done some things in this cycle to reduce my support for his candidacy.

But the over-the-top anti-Cruz insanity on this site is just disgusting.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Really? A dis-respect by Boehner? Meh.
Cruz should move up in he polls on this. Will “St. Ted” respond? Enquiring minds want to know.

[Secretly, Cruz-supporters want Ted to slice-and-dice Boehner in response!]

[TYVets]

Boehner want to see a miserable SOB?

Look in the mirror.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Until he enacts a “turgidity tax”.
:-)

[seawolf101]

This just shows that whoever is advising Cruz has given him poor advice and I don’t think that Cruz will even get reelected to the senate. People don’t like this scorched earth mentalitty. If not me nobody. Well he’s going to find out that nobody wants him. The guy just pissed in the punchbowl and he’s on a downward spiral.

[StAnDeliver]

FUJB

[Luircin]

Nah, they both suck.

But Cruzie is still slime.

[dynoman]

It’s Cruz who is acting insane. His actions just in the last few days make it seem like he’s caught in a time warp or parallel universe. No strategic thinking at all. He’s committing political suicide and seems helpless to stop it. It’s bizarre.

[Texas Yellow Rose]

"Boehner said he was on friendly terms with Republican front-runner Donald Trump, adding that he often played golf with the New York business mogul and billing their friendship as one between "texting buddies."

The ex-congressman seemed to accept that Trump would be the party's nominee and said that he would vote for him if that prediction came to pass. Boehner said he would not, however, cast a ballot for Cruz if the Texas senator won the nomination."

How sweet!

[Balding_Eagle]

But the over-the-top anti-Cruz insanity on this site is just disgusting.

At least it can be said that Cruz and his supporters came by it honestly, they earned it, one vote at a time, it wasn't just handed to them as it was in CO.

[boycott]

Now Boner is good.

—

No but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t occasionally get one right.

[nascarnation]

Hooking up with Glenn Beck and Snarly Carly certainly is a symptom of something...

[Texas Yellow Rose]

forgot the sarcasm tag ... oops

[dynoman]

Jeff Roe. He's Cruz's campaign manager.

Jeff Roe is from Kansas City. He’s a sleezebag. So was the guy Ted fired, and so is the guy that replaced him - busted for hiring illegal aliens - twice.

There’s no doubt Jeff is well versed in gutter politics.

---

“It was Mr. Roe who hired Mr. Tyler to be the Cruz campaign’s spokesman. (In an interview this month, Mr. Tyler said he had “learned a lot” from Mr. Roe. “Jeff wins,” Mr. Tyler said, adding, “I don’t think anything we’ve done is underhanded or deceptive or anything like that.”)

But back home, Mr. Roe’s allies and opponents alike have seen a familiar imprint in the Cruz campaign’s recent exploits, which have included a Photoshopped image of Mr. Rubio and the misleading suggestion, on the night of the Iowa caucuses, that Ben Carson was leaving the race.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/us/politics/ted-cruz-campaign-manager-jeff-roe.html?_r=0

---

All been done before by Jeff Roe. Then there is this;

---

"Political consultant Jeff Roe, who is based in Kansas City, is Ted Cruz's campaign manager — and the architect of the Texas senator's surprising first-place finish.

Roe is hardly a household name even amongst the political chattering class. (He has less than 6,000 Twitter followers.) Locally, he's most famous for commissioning the mean-spirited ad that upset State Auditor Tom Schweich and may have factored into his suicide, at least according to former U.S. Senator John Danforth, who blasted "politics that has gone so hideously wrong" in his funeral oration. Roe has been labeled "the Karl Rove of Missouri" — and the people calling him that don't consider it a compliment.

But as last night's results proved, he knows what he's doing. Cruz didn't just hold off all the other candidates vying for Iowa's large block of conservative voters. He did it even while beating Donald Trump. It was a wild, complicated race, and you have to respect the guy who figured out how to propel any candidate, much less one who's thoroughly loathed by everyone he meets, to victory.

In an interview with Chris Wallace a few weeks ago, Roe discussed a few secrets to his success — namely, a simple message and strong branding. Roe comes across as intensely analytical. He doesn't just know how long the average voter looks at a mailer (17 seconds); he knows how long he wants you to look at one touting Cruz (45 seconds). "When we communicate with the voter, we want it to be simple, clear and reinforce our candidate's brand," he says. For Cruz, that was "strong Christian conservative leader."

A recent New York Times Magazine piece delved more deeply into how Roe & Co. made those words resonate for Cruz, who'd hitherto been identified mostly as a conservative, not necessarily a Christian. Writes Robert Draper,

"One morning early in January, in the lobby of a public library in Onawa, Iowa, I listened to Cruz’s campaign manager, Jeff Roe, as he explained a central challenge of his previous few months. ‘‘Prior to March 23,’’ Roe said, ‘‘if you were to word-cloud ‘Ted Cruz,’ which we do every day — take all the Google mentions and Internet searches, dump them into a file and form a cloud — you can’t find ‘evangelical.’ ’’ In other words, voters were largely unaware of the Tea Party firebrand’s religious faith. To convince evangelicals that Ted Cruz was the ‘‘righteous’’ candidate, Roe told me, his team needed to sell him as such, from the very beginning: ‘‘Regardless of what you’ve got in the bank, you’d better determine the narrative of the campaign, and show that’s who we are, every day."

Last night's results suggest that effort worked beautifully.

Yes, Iowa is unusually dominated by evangelicals, and yes, if Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum are any indication, Cruz faces an uphill battle to get the Republican nomination, much less win a single state. But we have to hand it to Roe. Never before has a candidate that so many Americans find this intensely annoying managed to make it this far."

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2016/02/02/missouris-own-jeff-roe-was-the-wind-beneath-ted-cruzs-iowa-wings

---

[Bryanw92]

>>It used to be on FR that any friend of JB was an enemy of the conservative movement. Now...well...we all know full well the hard and fast rules some are having to rewrite in order to boost their man.

Please tell me which post praises Boner for his “support” of Trump.

The real takeaway in the OP is his loathing for Cruz. Not professional dislike but actual hate. This is how the GOPe will treat 2nd place Cruz when that second vote that he is counting on happens.

Unless, of course, the entire Boner statement is disinformation and Cruz is the stealth Establishment guy.

[elcid1970]

“Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.”

[bootless]

Oh my dear God. I never thought I’d hear from him again.

After all the times Boehner sold us out or failed to act to support grassroots conservativism and, more generally, our freedom in trying to beat back the bh0 agenda ... he thinks this will hurt Cruz? Boehner is the ultimate, miserable DC insider and thanks a hell of a lot for your “help,” John.

I expect to see this in a campaign ad soon.

[Mr. N. Wolfe]

Boehner is a typical GOPe Republican. He criticizes Conservative Republicans but always has nice things to say about Democrats.

[thoughtomator]

totally fake - Boehner trying to give Cruz some street cred

not falling for it

[JudgemAll]

Can Boehner explain anything other than attacking the personality. This guy is a real dunce if curse words are the extent of his debates and 500 word essays on Cruz’s policies. I simply cannot stand these idiot corrupt troll politicians.

Cruz lucifer in the flesh? What does that say about Boehner then other than being a miserable maggot like the Gollum!