Former House Speaker John Boehner said on Tuesday he would hesitate to call Donald Trump a Republican, but will vote for the party’s nominee next month.
“While Donald was not my first choice, wasn’t my second choice, and for that matter he wasn’t my third choice — but he’s the nominee and I am going to vote for him,” Boehner told Vice News in an interview that was previewed Tuesday night.
“He is not a conservative. He is barely a Republican. He kind of became a Republican in order to run,” Boehner added. “But his ideas, when you can get to them, are frankly more in the direction of what I would want the country to go to than Hillary Clinton. I like Hillary Clinton, I’ve known her for a long time, worked with her. She is not a bad person, but it would be more of the policies we see now in the Obama administration.”
The 25-year congressman has referred to Trump in the past as a casual friend and one of his “texting buddies,” but did not comment on the GOP nominee’s recent hot mic incident in the preview clip.
Current House Speaker Paul Ryan had planned on supporting Trump in the election until last weekend, when he canceled a campaign event with the nominee.
The full interview will air later Tuesday on HBO.
