The View‘s Sunny Hostin Confronts John Boehner: ‘Do You Feel You Were Part of the Problem’ in GOP’s Downfall?
Former House Speaker John Boehner faced questions from The View on whether he bears any responsibility for the increased volatility the Republican party has seen in recent years.
Boehner was on the show Monday to promote his new memoir, On The House, and he elaborated on the criticisms laid out in the book for former President Donald Trump. As he addressed Trump’s most recent, incendiary attacks against his political enemies, Boehner called for a renewed focus on traditional conservatism, even though he couldn’t answer Sara Haines’ question of “where’s the wake-up call” for the GOP to break from Trump.
When Sunny Hostin entered the fray, she honed in on the part of Boehner’s book where he lamented that the GOP has been hijacked by “kooks and lunatics.” Hostin further noted that Boehner said his time leading House Republicans was “living in Crazytown.”
“Is there a way, really, to rehabilitate the party and considering — in all fairness — that you did your fair share of backing some of their Tea Party predecessors when you were in office?” Hostin asked. “Do you feel you were part of the problem?”
Boehner answered by saying both sides of the political aisle send lawmakers to Washington whose purpose is “just to create chaos for their own political benefit, on the far left and far right.”
“I didn’t get these people elected. The American people sent them there,” he said. “My job was to try to mobilize the majority party into doing things that would help the American people, help American government, and there were some people who were always getting in the way.”
Boehner concluded his answer by saying most members of Congress are “are really good decent people,” but “there’s a fringe in both parties that make it difficult for the leaders, frankly, to lead. These days, I think both parties are being held hostage by the loudest voices in their parties. So it’s a very difficult time to govern.”
Watch above, via ABC.
