- John Boehner added an off-script "PS, Ted Cruz, go f— yourself" in the audiobook of his memoir.
- Axios' Jonathan Swan posted a clip of the former House speaker delivering the insult.
- Cruz has been a divisive figure in Congress, often despised by Democrats and Republicans alike.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Former House Speaker John Boehner added an off-script insult of "PS, Ted Cruz, go f— yourself" during an apparently wine-fueled recording of the audiobook of his forthcoming memoir, "On The House."
In the book, which is set to be released on April 13, Boehner doesn't hold back on doling out brutally honest and often harsh assessments of the fellow GOP lawmakers he led and, at times, clashed with during his 30-year career in elected office.
In a 32-second audio clip of Boehner's audiobook recording posted on Twitter by Axios' Jonathan Swan, Boehner ends an upbeat and hopeful but unrelated musing about the promise of freedom with the fiery message directed at Cruz. It is unclear whether the insult made it into the final version of the audiobook.
-Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) April 2, 2021
"Freedom means that you can be a genius and invent new products that make you millions of dollars and help millions of people. It means you're free to work your way to become the first in your family to go to college. It means you're free to reach as high as you want, no matter where you came from, even if you're a little kid sweeping a bar out in southwest Ohio. Take it from me: you'll never know where you end up. That's freedom. I'll raise a glass to that any day," Boehner said.
Then he added: "PS, Ted Cruz, go f— yourself."
Cruz has been a divisive figure in Congress, at times openly disliked by his Democratic and Republican colleagues alike. After being elected to the US Senate from Texas in 2012, he made a major splash on the national stage with a filibuster against the Affordable Care Act.
In an excerpt of "On The House" published Friday in Politico Magazine, Boehner similarly let loose on Cruz, calling him the "new head lunatic leading the way" of "the chaos caucus in the House."
"There is nothing more dangerous than a reckless asshole who thinks he is smarter than everyone else. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Senator Ted Cruz," Boehner wrote. "He enlisted the crazy caucus of the GOP in what was a truly dumbass idea. Not that anybody asked me."