Boehner to NBC’s Chuck Todd: ‘You’re a s—‘ for question about seeking office again

Former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) chided Chuck Todd on Sunday after the host of NBC’s “Meet the Press” asked him if he would ever consider running for elected office again. 

“I’d rather set myself on fire than to run for office again,” Boehner said in response. 

“You know, the only reason I asked that question is because I expected an answer just like that,” Todd laughed. 

Boehner grinned, telling Todd, “You’re a shit. You’re a shit.” 

“I assume I’m getting that as a compliment,” Todd replied. “I’ll take that as a backhanded compliment.” 

The former Speaker has spent the last week making various media appearances to promote his new book, “On the House.” 

WATCH: @SpeakerBoehner: “I’d rather set myself on fire than to run for office again.”@chucktodd: “The only reason I asked that question is because I expected an answer just like that.”

John Boehner: “You’re a shit.” pic.twitter.com/t7JEbDNGJ5

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 18, 2021

In excerpts of the book published in an essay earlier this month, Boehner decried what he said are the “crazy” forces that have taken control of the Republican Party and the conservative media landscape and pumped oxygen into its worst impulses. 

He also told Todd on Sunday that the potential plan to form a nativist anti-immigration America First Caucus in the House was “one of the nuttiest things I’ve ever seen.” 

“America is a land of immigration,” he said. “We’ve been the world’s giant melting pot for the last 200 years, and we’ve got to celebrate that we’re this giant melting pot.” 

Boehner revealed he voted for President Trump in 2020 but said he has been dismayed to watch the reaction the Republican Party has had to the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. 

He told USA Today last week that Trump “stepped all over” his supporters’ loyalty by lying to them about the result of the 2020 election. 

“I don’t think it was just about him showing up at a rally on Jan. 6th,” he said. “The comments that were made all summer about the election was going to be stolen from him, all the follow-up noise that occurred after the election – I kept looking for the facts.”