Boehner: ‘I’m the Most Anti-Establishment Speaker We Have Ever Had’

During his weekly press conference, House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) responded to the recent Speaker election that saw a number of GOP congressmen vote against his re-election, and added that he was pained to be described by his opponents as “spineless, or a squish.”

“I tell you what pains me the most is when they describe me as ‘the establishment,” the not-at-all-squishy Boehner insisted. “Now, I’m the most anti-establishment Speaker we have ever had.”

He went on to list all the ways he was anti-establishment:

Who was the guy against government earmarks? Me. Who was the guy who believes in regular order? Me. Who believes in allowing more members to participate in the process from both sides of the aisle? Me. I’m pretty comfortable in my own skin. I’m going to do my best to show all of our members, Democrats and Republicans — and those members who voted against me — that I’m up to the job I was given.

Rep. Boehner’s comments came days after the GOP’s Speaker election, in which Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX) publicly challenged Boehner for his seat. Not only did he fail, he failed miserably: Boehner was overwhelmingly re-elected despite 25 Republicans voting against him. (Gohmert himself only received three votes for his apparent lack of rebellious squish.)

Watch below via CSPAN:

[TPM]
[Image via screenshot]

—

>> Follow Tina Nguyen (@Tina_Nguyen) on Twitter

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!