Boehner: Trump ‘abused the loyalty and trust’ voters placed in him

Former Republican House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday that former President Donald Trump “abused the loyalty and trust” placed in him by his voters when he pushed falsehoods about the 2020 election.

“I just kept waiting for evidence to show up. The President was out there every day talking about the election being stolen. They’re filing lawsuits, I’m waiting for the evidence,” Boehner told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead.” “And sadly, no evidence ever showed up. And I think the President abused the loyalty and trust that his voters have placed in him by not being honest with the American people about the outcome.”

The comments from Boehner come the same day that the Ohio Republican released his new book, “On the House: A Washington Memoir.” In it, the former speaker offers his take on the Republican Party in the age of Trump, writing that the party is now under total control of the former President and that he’s not sure he still belongs in its current iteration.

“I was out of office when Donald Trump was inaugurated as our nation’s 45th president. That was fine by me because I’m not sure I belonged to the Republican Party he created,” Boehner wrote.

But Boehner, who resigned as House speaker in late 2015 amid clashes with the growing conservative caucus of the Republican Party, voted for Trump in the 2020 election. He told Time Magazine he “thought that (Trump’s) policies, by and large, mirrored the policies that I believed in.”

Asked by Tapper if he would vote for Trump again in 2024 should the former President run, Boehner demurred but said he hoped it wouldn’t be a choice.

This story is breaking and will be updated.