House Speaker John Boehner knew that Republicans who voted for him to retain his speakership would have faced a primary back home, and he retired Friday to avoid putting his friends through that, former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said Sunday.
Gingrich, who was speaker for nearly 4 years, said that he also faced a “minority of the party who were prepared to cause total chaos” before his resignation in 1999.
“In Boehner’s case, they wanted to vacate the chair. And John knew in that kind of fight, every one of the guys — he’d win the fight — but every guy who voted for him would face a primary fight back home because if you look at the poll that came out I think was today, you know, 62 percent of the Republicans in this country are mad at Boehner and [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell,” Gingrich said.
“Well, that means if you become a Boehner loyalist, back home you’re going to have a primary fight,” said Gingrich, adding that Boehner “just thought ‘I’m not putting my friends through this kind of fight.'”
Boehner surprised Washington by announcing his retirement Friday, a day after he welcomed Pope Francis to address a joint session of Congress, a career highlight.
