If his colleagues are to be believed, there’s a lot not to like about Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
It doesn’t seem to be a secret in Washington (or beyond), that the Republican candidate for president has made few, if any, friends in the U.S. Senate. Some trace the disdain for Cruz to the time he called Mitch McConnell, (R-Kty.), the Senate Majority Leader, a “liar” on the Senate floor. Others point to the fact he helped rally revolts against leadership, or the time he questioned whether Chuck Hagel might have been paid off by the North Korean or Saudi governments. Hagel, a former senator, is a Vietnam-era war hero.
On Wednesday, the pot was stirred once again when former Speaker of the House John Boehner, (R-Ohio), told the Stanford Daily that he considered Cruz "Lucifer in the flesh." Boehner went on to explain that he has "Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a b---h in my life."
With just a little research you can find that the “I have nothing nice to say about Ted Cruz” club doesn’t seem to be a small one. Below are just a few things his colleagues have said publicly about Cruz.
Craig Mazin, Cruz's freshman roommate at Princeton: "I would rather have anybody else be the president of the United States. Anyone. I would rather pick somebody from the phone book."
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): "If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody could convict you."
Matthew Dowd, who worked for George W. Bush when Cruz did: "If truth serum was given to the staff of the 2000 Bush campaign," an enormous percentage of them "would vote for Trump over Cruz."
Anonymous Bush 2000 alumnus: "Why do people take such an instant dislike to Ted Cruz? It just saves time."
Former President George W. Bush – "I just don't like the guy."
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.): "Classless, tasteless and counterproductive."
John Boehner (R.-Ohio): "Jacka--"
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Sen. Lindsey Graham when initially asked who he would support in the GOP race after he dropped out: "It's like being shot or poisoned. What does it really matter?"
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.): "It's always the wacko birds on right and left that get the media megaphone. I think it can be harmful if there is a belief among the American people that those people are reflective of the views of the majority of Republicans. They're not."
Sen. Robert Corker (R-Tenn.) when asked if Cruz was a friend: "He's an acquaintance."
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.): "You learn that in kindergarten — you learn to work well together and play by the rules. Another thing you learn in kindergarten is to respect one another."
Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.): "I don't know of anyone else in Washington, certainly, who gets this opposition from his own people.... I'm talking about people as conservative as he is who just can't stand him."
Carly Fiorina before being picked as Cruz's running mate, while on the campaign trail: "Ted Cruz is like any other politician. He says one thing in Manhattan, another in Iowa, whatever he needs to say to get elected and do as he pleases. I think the American people are tired of the political class that promises much and delivers much of the same."
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