“You can call me boner, beaner, jackass, happy to answer to almost anything,” said former Speaker of the House John Boehner as he took the stage at CEMEX Auditorium on Wednesday evening. Boehner joined David M. Kennedy, faculty director and history professor emeritus, in a talk hosted by Stanford in Government (SIG) and the Stanford Speakers Bureau.

This joking yet blunt attitude set the tone for the night as Kennedy and the former Speaker discussed topics ranging from Boehner’s upbringing in Ohio to the future of the Republican Party. For the second half of the program, Kennedy opened up the floor to student questions.

2016 Presidential election

Much of the discussion – and laughs – focused on Boehner’s views on the current presidential candidates. Segueing into the topic, Kennedy asked Boehner to be frank given that the event was not being broadcasted, and the former Speaker responded in kind. When specifically asked his opinions on Ted Cruz, Boehner made a face, drawing laughter from the crowd.

“Lucifer in the flesh,” the former speaker said. “I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.”

Boehner described other Republican candidates as friends. In particular, the former speaker said he has played golf with Donald Trump for years and that they were “texting buddies.”

His friendship with Ohio Governor John Kasich, however, was a little more ambiguous.

“[Kasich] requires more effort on my behalf than all my other friends … but he’s still my friend, and I love him,” Boehner said.

Boehner for the most part accepted Trump as the presumptive Republican nominee, though he did express his surprise at the candidate’s success. While he did not praise Trump’s policies, the Speaker did say he would vote for Trump in the general election if he becomes the Republican nominee. The former Speaker said he would not, however, vote for Cruz.

When it came to the Democrat primaries, Boehner asserted his belief that although Bernie Sanders has put up a significant fight, Hillary Clinton will win the nomination over Bernie Sanders. While stating that he disagreed with Sanders on all the issues, the former Speaker also called Sanders a nice guy and the most honest politician in the race.

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Divisive cracks are appearing daily in the RNC and their elite
: cohorts about the Trump situation. As for Boehner declaring
: Cruz a miserable SOB, well he should surely be able to
: recognize corrupt bastards. He has had quite a lot of
: corruption himself...
: -------------------------------------------------------------

: When it comes to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, even a few months’ time
: out of Congress has done little to lessen former Speaker
: John Boehner’s contempt for his former Capitol Hill
: colleague.

: “Lucifer in the flesh,” Boehner told an audience at Stanford
: on Wednesday night, according to the Stanford Daily. “I
: have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along
: with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more
: miserable son of a bitch in my life.”

: In fact, Wednesday night was not the first occasion that
: Boehner has compared Cruz to “Lucifer,” using the epithet
: last month during a question-and-answer session with
: reporters at the Futures Industry Association conference in
: Boca Raton, Florida.

: As far as Donald Trump goes, Boehner remarked that he had
: golfed with Trump for years and that the two are “texting
: buddies.”

: On fellow Ohioan John Kasich, Boehner was magnanimous.

: The governor “requires more effort on my behalf than all my
: other friends … but he’s still my friend, and I love him,”
: Boehner said, according to the report.

: Read more:
: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/john-beohner-ted-cruz-lucifer-222570#ixzz478AhcDhg