John Boehner Comes Alive and Calls Tea Party Racist Rep. Steve King an ‘Asshole’

According to Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro’s diary of his first year in Congress, Speaker of the House John Boehner not only disagreed with racist Rep. Steve King’s comments about Hispanics, he called him a ‘asshole.’

Rep. Castro published the diary of his first year in Congress in Texas Monthly. This diary contains a juicy story about Boehner’s real feelings about tea party Republican Steve King’s racist attacks on Hispanics.

Rep. Castro wrote,

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Throughout the year a popular explanation for Republicans’ unwillingness to move on immigration was the lack of diversity in their gerrymandered congressional districts. Simply put, most don’t have enough Hispanics for the issue to really matter to their reelections. A few of the less tactful Republicans seemed to even go out of their way to express disdain for immigrants. In July Steve King, a tea party Republican from Iowa, compared DREAMers to drug mules with “calves the size of cantaloupes.” King’s comments sparked blowback, prompting Speaker Boehner to address the issue at a press conference. The speaker deemed King’s comments “deeply offensive and wrong” and reassured the public that the comments did not “reflect the values of the American people, or the Republican Party.”

The Democratic caricature of the speaker is that he’s an overly tan, overly emotional cat-herder who has lost control of his flock, but in person, he comes across as approachable and down-to-earth, and you can see how he earned the trust of his colleagues and became their leader. On a day not too long after Boehner’s political body check of Steve King for his immigration comments, the speaker was milling around the aisle walkway in the middle section of the House floor where the Democratic and Republican territories meet. Another Texas Democrat and I were standing a few feet away, and as the speaker passed us we thanked him for denouncing King’s offensive comments. He slowed his stride and then paused to turn toward us. “What an asshole,” he said. My thoughts exactly, Mr. Speaker.

King himself does not represent many Hispanics; his district is nearly 96 percent white.

For once, John Boehner actually spoke for the American people. Boehner doesn’t get much right, but he was right about Steve King. Castro’s comments make it seem like Boehner is Speaker because he is a guy that most on the Republican side like. That would explain a lot about how Boehner both rose to, and manages to keep, his current position.

At least Boehner isn’t a totally racist fool, but he is playing one on TV so that he can keep his job. King is so extreme that Boehner had to denounce him, but it would be really nice if he could do the same thing once in a while for the Obama racism that is the bread and butter of many of his House colleagues.

The reason why John Boehner is the worst Speaker of the House in history is because he put keeping his position ahead of serving the American people. Boehner’s selfish decision to allow the craziest inmates to run the asylum has resulted in a paralyzed government that can’t legislate. Speaker Boehner kept his job at a high cost to the people that he is supposed to be working for.

Boehner might an amiable fellow to have around the House, but calling Steve King an a-hole doesn’t change the fact that he is a lousy leader.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association