Juicy, but I don’t know how scandalized we should be at learning that Boehner holds a view we all assumed he held in the first place. Next we’ll find out that Mitch McConnell thinks Cruz is a jackass too.

This isn’t the first time he’s been accused of saying something privately to fundraisers that he wouldn’t dare dream of saying publicly. Remember when he allegedly told a bunch of donor-class amnesty fans that he was “hellbent” on passing comprehensive immigration reform in 2014? Two months later Dave Brat upset Eric Cantor in their House primary by running hard against illegal immigration. Alas, the elusive dream of more cheap labor for corporate America had to be postponed again.

At a Steamboat Springs event for GOP Rep. Scott Tipton, the Ohio Republican quipped that he likes how Cruz’s presidential campaign keeps “that jackass” out of Washington, and from telling Boehner how to do his job… “I don’t think it’s terribly speaker-like, and I think it kind of goes against everything that Reagan ever said about disparaging Republicans,” said Ed MacArthur, the president of Native Excavating, who attended the fundraiser… Another Steamboat Springs resident confirmed Boehner’s remark: “I about fell on the floor.” “To build coalitions to work together in Washington, D.C., you don’t start it out by calling your colleague a ‘jackass,’” she said.

Turns out the GOP leadership hates grassroots favorites just as much as the grassroots hates the GOP leadership. Dare we assume that Boehner also holds Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh in low regard?

Two things here. One: It’s going to be high-larious watching Boehner and McConnell react next spring if Ben Domenech and I are right and Ted Cruz emerges from the smoke as the GOP’s nominee. I think Boehner could tolerate President Hillary just fine, but the reality of President Cruz might send him into retirement. If you’re a Boehner-hater, there’s another reason to back Cruz in the primaries. Two: Arguably the worst thing about this is its lack of strategic foresight, not the insult itself. An attack on Cruz from the seat of establishment power will only help him among populist voters. If this blows up in media, it may even galvanize conservative support in the House for another crack at Mark Meadows’s resolution to remove Boehner as Speaker, a measure that’d be unlikely to succeed but could embarrass Boehner depending upon how many votes it draws. How is it worth taking a personal shot at Cruz when that’s the price? No wonder this guy routinely gets rolled by Obama and Reid.