Departing John Boehner tears up again as he hits out at his conservative critics as 'false prophets' and suggests Ted Cruz is a 'jackass'
- House Speaker John Boehner yelled that the right wing of his party is 'unrealistic' and called them out for the 2013 government shutdown
- He said the government would not be shutting down this year, though called on a select committee to investigate Planned Parenthood
- Seeing the Pope helped 'clear the picture' Boehner said of his decision to step down
Just two days after announcing he was quitting Congress, House Speaker John Boehner yelled and cried through an interview – focusing his ire on the 'false prophets' in the right-wing of the Republican Party.
Boehner ticked off the biggest legislative victories he had in the House 'all voted against by my most conservative members' because, as the Speaker put it, the bills weren't 'good enough.'
'Really? This is the part that I really don't understand,' he said, shaking his head.
Continuing the tirade against the right flank of his party Boehner said, 'absolutely they're unrealistic,' his voice booming, telling Face the Nation host John Dickerson that change on Capitol Hill comes slowly.
House Speaker John Boehner cried and yelled his way through an appearance on Face the Nation Sunday, getting emotional talking about Pope Francis while lambasting some members of his party
On Face the Nation Sunday, outgoing House Speaker John Boehner slammed the right-flank of his party for being 'unrealistic' and shutting down the government in 2013 - a mistake they wouldn't be making this year
'The Bible says beware of false prophets. Now there are people out there, you know, spreading noise about how much can get done,' Boehner continued, reminding Dickerson what a disaster it was to shut down the government in 2013.
'But over the course of the August recess in 2013 and the course of September a lot of my Republican colleagues who knew it was a fool's errand, they were getting all this pressure from home to do this, we have groups here in town – members of the House and Senate here in town – who whipped people into a frenzy believing they can accomplish things that they know, they know, are never going to happen.'
Dickerson brought up Sen. Ted Cruz, who was seen as the most vocal advocate of shutting down the government over the issue of Obamacare.
Dickerson asked Boehner if Cruz was one of these false prophets, but he tried to stay mum.
Pope Francis' visit to Capitol Hill Thursday 'cleared the picture' for House Speaker John Boehner, who announced he was quitting his job the next day
Speaker John Boehner said he 'was a mess' after Pope Francis asked the politician to pray for him when they met on Capitol Hill Thursday
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'I'll refer you to my remark at a fund-raiser I made in August in Steamboat Springs, Colorado,' Boehner said.
Boehner had called Cruz a 'jackass' at that specific event.
Boehner also told Dickerson that there wouldn't be a government shutdown this year, explaining that the Senate is expected to pass a continuing resolution next week and the House would then take up the Senate bill.
To appease those Republicans calling for a government shutdown over the controversial Planned Parenthood videos Boehner had a plan for that too.
'We will also take up a select committee to investigate these horrific videos that we have seen from abortion clinics in several states that really raise questions about the use of federal funds and raise questions about aborted fetuses that are born alive,' he said.
Through the interview, Boehner's eyes were red, but he got especially teary when he talked about his family and the Pope.
'To a kid who grew up as an altar boy, having the pope here was a big deal,' Boehner said, noting how he had tried for 25 years to get the Pope to come and address Congress.
Besides having the Pope bless his six-week-old grandson, Boehner said Pope Francis also asked Boehner to pray for him. 'Well, you can imagine, I was a mess,' the House Speaker, known as an intense cryer, said.
Dickerson asked if it was the Pope's influence that led Boehner to make the decision to step down.
'Well I thought – I think it helped clear the picture,' he said. 'I never related one of these instances with the other, but clearly, by Friday night, it was pretty obvious to me that, hey, I think it's time to do this.'
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