John Boehner said Speaker Paul Ryan's retirement announcement on Wednesday had nothing to do with the prospect of Democrats overwhelming Republicans in November's midterm elections. | Lauren Victoria Burke/AP Photo Boehner: GOP has '50/50' odds of losing the House The former Republican leader insisted Paul Ryan's retirement had nothing to do with his party's chances in November's midterms.

Former House Speaker John Boehner thinks Republicans are just as likely to lose control of the House in 2018 as they are to maintain power over the chamber.

"Frankly, it's a 50/50 proposition," the retired GOP leader said Friday on NBC's "Today" show. “Once you have a change of presidents, the party out of power always gains seats. It has gone on for well over 100 years.”


But current House Speaker Paul Ryan's retirement announcement on Wednesday had nothing to do with the prospect of Democrats overwhelming Republicans in November's midterm elections, Boehner insisted.

"I believe that because I know Paul Ryan," Boehner said of the Wisconsin Republican. "He never wanted to be speaker. I had to beat him to death to take my job. Tax reform was his issue, and he spent all of his political career working on tax reform. When it was finished, I pretty well knew that he would probably move on."

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The former Ohio congressman — and soon-to-be board member of Acreage Holdings, one of the nation’s largest cannabis corporations — added that if he still controlled the House gavel, he would advise President Donald Trump against firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein or special counsel Robert Mueller, whose investigation should "absolutely" continue.

“It's a very bad idea," Boehner said. "These are public servants who have got long careers — stand-up people who are charged with an investigation, and it's real clear: Either there are facts or there are not. Either there were crimes committed or weren't. ... There's no reason why those investigations should be impeded at all.”

