Former House speaker: Ted Cruz is “Lucifer in the flesh”

Former House Speaker John Boehner expressed his antipathy toward Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz, describing him as “Lucifer in the flesh” and a “miserable son of a bitch.”

“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 said of the Texas senator at a forum at Stanford University, the local press reported.

The former Republican speaker, who left that post last October, had several meetings with Cruz, who is of Cuban origin and torpedoed several of Boehner’s initiatives in Congress.

In 2013, for example, Cruz met with members of the Freedom Caucus, one of the Republican Party’s most conservative factions, and urged them to oppose President Barack Obama’s health initiative that became known as Obamacare.

That step eventually led to the partial shutdown of the government, a situation that undermined public confidence in the Republican Party.

Boehner voiced a better opinion about the other two contenders for the GOP presidential nomination, real estate magnate and frontrunner Donald Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

The former speaker said that he had a friendly relationship with Trump, with whom he has played golf several times, and the pair remain “text buddies.” Boehner added that he will vote for Trump if he becomes the Republican presidential nominee.

Regarding Kasich, Boehner said that he is “my friend and I love him,” but adding that his fellow Ohioan “requires more effort on my behalf than all my other friends.”

The former House leader also said that Democratic presidential hopeful and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is the “most honest” politician in the race, but he said former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is likely to win the party’s presidential nomination.

Nevertheless, he warned that the controversy surrounding Clinton’s emails while secretary of state could give her an unpleasant surprise before the Democratic convention in July, where the party will pick its presidential candidate.

Clinton is being investigated for using her private email account for matters of national import while she was the top U.S. diplomat from 20092013.

“Don’t be shocked ... if two weeks before the convention, here comes (Vice President) Joe Biden parachuting in and Barack Obama fanning the flames to make it all happen,” Boehner said.