--- description: Rep. Peter King on Tuesday said he would poison himself to death if Ted Cruz secures the Republican nomination for president. title: New York Congressman Says He’ll ‘Take Cyanide’ if Ted Cruz Wins image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d138aabc6693fb6/69888fd42dce0141df9e8bc2/peter-king.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # New York Congressman Says He’ll 'Take Cyanide' if Ted Cruz Wins Nomination  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 19, 2016 11:42 PM CUT  Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., walks down the House steps following a series of votes on April 19, 2012. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., walks down the House steps following a series of votes on April 19, 2012.Bill Clark—CQ-Roll Call,Inc.  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 19, 2016 11:42 PM CUT Rep. Peter King on Tuesday said he would [poison himself to death](http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/peter-king-i-d-endorse-kasich-if-he-had-a-shot-668985411537 "undefined") if Ted Cruz secures the Republican nomination for president. The Republican lawmaker from New York made the comment during an appearance on MSNBC’s _Morning Joe_ as [primary](http://time.com/4299356/new-york-primary-results-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-donald-trump-ted-cruz/?xid=homepage "undefined") voters in the state were set to cast their ballots. “I hate Ted Cruz, and I think I’ll take cyanide if he ever got the nomination,” he said. King has previously voiced his distaste for the Texas senator. He said “any New Yorker who even thinks of voting for Ted Cruz should have their head examined,” earlier this month on the _Joe Piscopo Show_ on AM 970 The Answer. “I just can’t stand that guy,” he said at the time, according to [_Buzzfeed_](http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/peter-king-new-yorkers-voting-for-cruz-should-have-their-hea#.ud0rzLEeQ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4300187/peter-king-ted-cruz-cyanide/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4300187/peter-king-ted-cruz-cyanide/"},"headline":"New York Congressman Says He’ll 'Take Cyanide' if Ted Cruz Wins Nomination","datePublished":"2016-04-19T23:42:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:31:26.292Z","description":"“I hate Ted Cruz, and I think I'll take cyanide if he ever got the nomination\"","url":"https://time.com/4300187/peter-king-ted-cruz-cyanide/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d138aabc6693fb6/69888fd42dce0141df9e8bc2/peter-king.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d138aabc6693fb6/69888fd42dce0141df9e8bc2/peter-king.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rep. Peter King","caption":"Rep. Peter King","creditText":"Bill Clark—CQ-Roll Call,Inc.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4300187/peter-king-ted-cruz-cyanide/","name":"New York Congressman Says He’ll 'Take Cyanide' if Ted Cruz Wins Nomination"}}]}] ```