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Boehner Calls Chaffetz a 'Total Phony,' Jim Jordan a 'Legislative Terrorist'

Boehner Calls Chaffetz a 'Total Phony,' Jim Jordan a 'Legislative Terrorist'
(J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

By    |   Monday, 30 October 2017 08:02 AM EDT

Former House Speaker John Boehner bashed fellow Republicans Jim Jordan and Jason Chaffetz in an interview with Politico published on Sunday.

Boehner made the comment in connection with who would become chairman of the House Oversight Committee, a position Jordan was supposedly seeking after Chaffetz, the previous chair,  recently announced his resignation and which Rep. Trey Gowdy eventually won.

"Gowdy — that's my guy, even though he doesn't know how to dress," Boehner said. "[Expletive] Jordan. [Expletive] Chaffetz. They're both ******."

Boehner also called Chaffetz, who joined Fox News as a contributor after leaving Congress, a "total phony" and said Jordan, who helped found the House's Freedom Caucus, "a legislative terrorist."

In the Politico interview, Boehner also recalled how he became close friends with then- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, after cursing him out in a confrontation in Congress.

Boehner said they have since become "really good friends" and are even co-chairs of a new think tank at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas that is currently being constructed.

Boehner also told of another confrontation with a colleague that eventually led to a friendship. Fellow Republican Congressman Don Young once pinned Boehner against the wall and held a knife to his throat during a debate about earmarks.

However, they later became good enough friends that Boehner was the best man at Young's wedding.

The former speaker also lamented the deepening fissures in American society and said that the severe polarization has led to the unwillingness of lawmakers to collaborate across the aisle, for fear of recriminations from the base.

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Politics
Former House Speaker John Boehner bashed fellow Republicans Jim Jordan and former Jason Chaffetz in an interview with Politico published on Sunday.
boehner, slams, chaffetz, jordan
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2017-02-30
Monday, 30 October 2017 08:02 AM
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