GOP CONVENTION | Boehner on Cruz: 'Lucifer is back'

CLEVELAND (AP) — Former House Speaker John Boehner says, “Lucifer is back.”

That comment from the Ohio Republican, reported on Twitter by his spokesman, was a reference to Ted Cruz, the Texas senator and former GOP presidential candidate who has incensed Republican delegates for speaking to the convention but refusing to endorse nominee Donald Trump.

Boehner’s remark harks back to a comment he made in April, when he told an audience at Stanford University that he considered Cruz, “Lucifer in the flesh.”

He elaborated, according to Stanford Daily, by saying he has never “worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.”

GOP delegates booed Cruz offstage Wednesday night when it became clear his speech to the convention would not include an endorsement of Trump. Cruz on Wednesday cast his decision as deeply personal, saying he refuses to fall in line, “like a servile puppy dog.”

Meanwhile, Trump is hitting back at Cruz after the Texas senator explained why he wasn’t endorsing Trump for president.

Cruz said Thursday he will not support anyone who wages personal attacks against his family. Cruz told members of the Texas delegation that he would support the candidate “I trust to defend our freedom and be faithful to the Constitution.”

In a Tweet, Trump said Cruz “talks about the Constitution but doesn’t say that if the Dems win the Presidency, the new JUSTICES appointed will destroy us all!”

Trump was referring to the open seat on the Supreme Court left vacant after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Senate Republicans say it should be up to the next president to appoint a replacement. They have refused to hold a confirmation hearing for President Barack Obama’s nominee, Judge Merrick Garland.

Cruz has refused to rule out a run for president in 2020.