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It was reported earlier this year that, while recording his audiobook, former Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) occasionally randomly veered from the script to tell off Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Specifically, he told Cruz, “Go fuck yourself.”

Now, Axios released the audio. It’s real, and it’s spectacular. Listen:

“Freedom,” Boehner says, “means you’re free to reach as high as you want no matter where you came from, even if you’re a little kid sweeping a bar out in southwest Ohio. Take it from me. You’ll never know where you’ll end up. That’s freedom. I’ll raise a glass to that any day. P.S. Ted Cruz, go fuck yourself.”

Boehner isn’t the first Republican politician to make his contempt for the Texas senator known. In 2016, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said, “If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you.” Even the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called Cruz a “wacko bird.”

I wonder what Boehner thought of Cruz’s trip to Cancun.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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