White House, Boehner Spar Over Expletive

The White House and the Speaker of the House are clashing over a profanity.

A day after The Atlantic quoted a senior Obama administration official calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a chickens–t,” Speaker John Boehner called on the president to identify the offender and show him or her the door. The quote has intensified the spat between the White House and the Israeli government, and sent the Obama administration’s clean-up operation into overdrive.

“What I can tell you is that, in the clearest terms possible and the most open forum possible, that those comments as they were reported do not accurately reflect at all this administration’s view about the nation of Israel, the strength of the relationship between our two countries or the leadership of that important ally,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

In a statement, Boehner said that Obama sets the tone for his administration. “He either condones the profanity and disrespect used by the most senior members of his administration, or he does not,” he said. “It is time for him to get his house in order and tell the people that can’t muster professionalism that it is time to move on.”

Earnest fired back during the daily press briefing, referencing Boehner’s own history of “salty language.”

“It’s an interesting observation by the speaker of the House, whom you all know has a penchant for using some pretty salty language himself,” Earnest said. “So it’s a little rich to have a lecture about profanity from the speaker the House.”

In 2008, before Obama was elected, Boehner implied that Obama was “chickens–t” for repeatedly voting “present” in the Illinois State Senate instead of casting tough votes.