--- title: Ted Cruz Ties John Boehner to Donald Trump in Harsh Rebuke description: Ted Cruz responded pointedly on Thursday to former House Speaker John Boehner's comments that Cruz was "lucifer in the flesh" canonical: https://time.com/4311228/ted-cruz-john-boehner-donald-trump/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-28T17:31:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:14.164Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ted Cruz Ties John Boehner to Donald Trump in Harsh Rebuke og:description: Ted Cruz responded pointedly on Thursday to former House Speaker John Boehner's comments that Cruz was "lucifer in the flesh" og:url: https://time.com/4311228/ted-cruz-john-boehner-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48399d18f7ff3b2c/69888a378e060180d6464f28/timepol-ted-cruz-republican-gop-democratic-presidential-candidate-primary-voting-08.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: TIMEPOL Ted Cruz og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ted Cruz Ties John Boehner to Donald Trump in Harsh Rebuke twitter:description: Ted Cruz responded pointedly on Thursday to former House Speaker John Boehner's comments that Cruz was "lucifer in the flesh" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48399d18f7ff3b2c/69888a378e060180d6464f28/timepol-ted-cruz-republican-gop-democratic-presidential-candidate-primary-voting-08.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ted Cruz Ties John Boehner to Donald Trump in Harsh Rebuke > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Apr 28, 2016 5:31 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz speaks to reporters during his rally at Calvary Baptist Church on March 8, 2016, in Raleigh, N.C. Republican presidential candidate, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz speaks to reporters during his rally at Calvary Baptist Church on March 8, 2016, in Raleigh, N.C. Jill Knight—TNS/Zuma by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Apr 28, 2016 5:31 PM UTC Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz [responded pointedly](http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/28/politics/john-boehner-ted-cruz-lucifer-stanford/) on Thursday to former House Speaker John Boehner’s comments that Cruz was “[lucifer in the flesh](http://time.com/4310768/john-boehner-ted-cruz-lucifer-in-the-flesh/?xid=homepage),” saying that Boehner had “allowed his inner Trump to come out.” “The interesting thing is I’ve never worked with John Boehner, I don’t know the man,” Cruz told reporters, in remarks reported by [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/28/politics/john-boehner-ted-cruz-lucifer-stanford/). “Indeed, during the government shut down, I reached out to John Boehner, to work with him to get something meaningful done. He said, ‘I have no interest in talking to you.'” “When John Boehner calls me Lucifer, he is directing it at you. What Boehner is angry at is me standing with the American people,” Cruz continued. Boehner and Cruz clashed repeatedly since the Texas senator took his seat in 2013, fighting over how to challenge Obamacare and the government shutdown. The Texas senator also tweeted a response to Boehner, who said on Wednesday night at Stanford University he was a “texting buddy” of Donald Trump’s. > [](https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/725692012129849345) Cruz is widely disliked on Capitol Hill, where he is known for railing publicly against his Senate colleagues and fellow Republicans. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4311228/ted-cruz-john-boehner-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4311228/ted-cruz-john-boehner-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Ted Cruz Ties John Boehner to Donald Trump in Harsh Rebuke","datePublished":"2016-04-28T17:31:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:14.164Z","description":"Ted Cruz responded pointedly on Thursday to former House Speaker John Boehner's comments that Cruz was \"lucifer in the flesh\"","url":"https://time.com/4311228/ted-cruz-john-boehner-donald-trump/","keywords":["2016 Election","ted cruz","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48399d18f7ff3b2c/69888a378e060180d6464f28/timepol-ted-cruz-republican-gop-democratic-presidential-candidate-primary-voting-08.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48399d18f7ff3b2c/69888a378e060180d6464f28/timepol-ted-cruz-republican-gop-democratic-presidential-candidate-primary-voting-08.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIMEPOL Ted Cruz","caption":"Republican presidential candidate, Texas Sen. 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