AP Photo Peter King: Boehner exit means 'the crazies have taken over the party'

House Speaker John Boehner's sudden resignation Friday "signals that the crazies have taken over the party," New York Republican Peter King said Friday.

“I think it signals the crazies have taken over the party, taken over to the party that you can remove a speaker of the House who’s second in line to be president, a constitutional officer in the middle of his term with no allegations of impropriety, a person who’s honest and doing his job. This has never happened before in our country," King said in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash on Friday afternoon. "He could have stayed on.”


Boehner has done "an outstanding job," King said, adding that he was "extremely disappointed" upon hearing the news of his resignation.

“There was actually, I thought, like a hush in the room for a few seconds where no one — people like looked at each other — they couldn’t believe it. And then he read the prayer of St. Francis, which was very moving," King said of the moment when Boehner told fellow lawmakers that he was leaving office.

"I’m not a psychologist but I think John probably pretty much decided that the more he did, the more friction would be caused, and that he probably thought it was best for him to leave soon anyway, which I think is wrong," he said. "But having the pope here yesterday just sort of put John in the frame of mind [that] it’s time to leave."

Boehner's decision to resign is "like throwing raw meat" to more extreme factions of the caucus who are trying to "hijack and blackmail the party," King said. "They’re not going to see it as a gesture of peace, they’re going to just look for more."

“I think whoever runs for speaker should make it clear that he’s not going to give in to these people. We’re not going to appease them," he concluded. "The time for appeasement is over.”