In his first interview since his surprising announcement Friday that he is both resigning his role as Speaker of the House and his congressional seat at the end of October, John Boehner “unloads on GOP ‘false prophets'” on Face the Nation.
In his first one-on-one interview since his resignation announcement, Speaker John Boehner blasted right-wing lawmakers and groups as “false prophets” who “whip people into a frenzy” to make legislative demands that “are never going to happen.”The Ohio Republican also declared on CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday that there won’t be a government shutdown this week, though he’s “sure” it will take Democratic votes to pass a temporary funding extension.
“The Bible says, beware of false prophets. And there are people out there spreading, you know, noise about how much can get done,” Boehner said.“We got groups here in town, members of the House and Senate here in town, who whip people into a frenzy believing they can accomplish things they know — they know! — are never going to happen,” he added.
Charles Payne sees this as a direct jab at the TEA Party:
Face the Nation‘s John Dickerson asked him is Ted Cruz is one of these “false prophets” to whom Boehner refers, and Boehner demurs, saying that “you can pick a lot of names out; I’ll let you choose ’em” and then referenced his comment in August while at a Colorado fundraiser (there, he called Cruz a “jackass”).
Watch the full interview:
As Democrats heap praise on Boehner, David Axelrod predicts that the next speaker, swept into position on a tide of conservative “rebellion,” will “not have the freedom to compromise with the president.” The New York Times reports:
The new speaker, elevated to the country’s third-highest constitutional post by a conservative rebellion, will face demands from those same rebels to extract concessions from a president who has little to lose by standing firm. At stake for conservatives will be the one clear victory they have scored since the Tea Party revolution of 2010: firm statutory limits on spending signed into law in 2011, which Mr. Obama has said he can no longer abide.
In turn, the Republican Party, already wrestling with the effect of Mr. Trump’s populist insurgency on its chances at the White House, could find itself with the political challenge of justifying to moderate voters yet another Washington crisis, prompted by an even more obstreperous, confrontational House majority.
“Having been hoisted to the speaker’s chair by what was essentially a revolt,” David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to Mr. Obama, predicted, the next speaker will not have the freedom to compromise with the president.
“This group is not installing him to pursue compromise and mutual cooperation,” Mr. Axelrod said.
That’s certainly the hope of Michael Needham, chief executive of Heritage Action for America. The Washington Post reports:
Earlier Sunday, the leader of one of those outside groups who have pushed for greater confrontation cheered Boehner’s departure. Michael Needham, chief executive of Heritage Action for America, said on Fox News Sunday that Boehner and his allies treated conservatives as “crazies” to be marginalized, not as central players in developing the party agenda.”[Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi does not talk about her base that way; Barack Obama doesn’t think about his base that way,” Needham said. “We need a Republican leadership that is showing conservative values. … That’s not what we’ve had. We’ve had to fight our own speaker.”
Hopefully, the next speaker will not think of—or at least will refrain from publicly referring to—Republicans to his right as “jackasses” and “false prophets.”
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