Peter King: Ted Cruz 'is a fraud'
Washington (CNN) - The government shutdown showdown is getting ugly.
Republican Rep. Peter King said Friday that his Republican colleague in the Senate, Ted Cruz, "is a fraud" who will "no longer have any influence in the Republican Party" after the House votes on a measure that could potentially lead to a government shutdown.
[twitter-follow screen_name='politicalticker']
King made his comments while on his way to a Republican meeting, shortly before the House was set to begin debating, then voting on the bill. The legislation provides funds for the government to stay afloat past the end of the fiscal year on September 30, but only if money for Obamacare is cut out.
Ted Cruz: Obamacare fight 'just beginning'
The idea to tie the president's health care law to the government funding bill was aggressively pushed by Cruz and other Senate conservatives, including Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Mike Lee, this summer.
The House is expected to pass the bill, which will then go to the Democratic-controlled Senate where the Obamacare amendment will likely be killed. The bill would then be sent back to the House, which would have to decide whether to pass it and keep the government running, or defeat it and possibly see a government shutdown.
King, who's been strongly opposed to the bill, has essentially compared the strategy to a suicide mission.
Read: Rep. King on defund plan: ‘Custer, Kamikaze’
"I hope people will get the message this guy is bad for the party," King said Friday, talking about Cruz, a potential 2016 presidential candidate. King is also a potential White House contender, as he has said he's thinking about running for president.
Asked if the House vote was more of a message to conservatives than to Obama, King said the vote is a signal that the GOP has "to take more realistic and practical approaches."
The congressman has said before that he can start ignoring the senator from Texas after the vote. He reiterated Friday he hopes that's still the case.
"We can't be going off on these false missions that Ted Cruz wants us to go on. The issues are too important. They're too serious, they require real conservative solutions, not cheap headline-hunting schemes," he said.
Read: Cruz tries to make amends with angry conservatives
Cruz angered House conservatives earlier this week when he admitted in a statement that he doubts the Senate has enough votes to pass a government funding measure that also defunds Obamacare. He has nonetheless vowed to keep fighting in the Senate to generate support for the measure.
But with some Senate Republicans already saying they won't support Cruz in the effort, the chances of him succeeding so far appear unlikely.
- CNN's Ashley Killough and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.
Rep. King doesn't understand defending principles. He would rather bend over and take Obamacare, where as Sen. Cruz would rather go down fighting. The American people oppose Obamacare. When it is fully implemented, and the people are able to see the hardship it brings with it, they will remember Ted Cruz's opposition....and Peter Kings acquiescence to it.
Republicans are a joke. If they spent one tenth of the time they spend on trying to make the Democrats look bad, on realistic solutions for this county's problems then we would be in damn good shape.
Do not worry, Rep. King, Cruz will be gone after his first and only term.
Republicans are such losers. They've been whupped in 2 straight elections, and the American people are laughing at Republicans threatening to shut down government because they got their butt's whipped on the health care law.
Losers, and from the sounds of it, their KKK faction (aka Tea Baggers) will bring them yet another trouncing defeat.
This is good for America!
Rep. Peter King is showing his RINO colors – good for nothing establishment Repulicrat. Yea!!! for Ted Cruz – I hope he fights for the "little guy".
Ted's the future Peter. Get on board or get out of the way!
This is just wonderful self party destrucion,, the only thing missing is for Sarah Palin to chime in, and away we go !!
GOOD GRIEF... Republicans have stalled progress on so many pro-American citizen bills for the past 20 years. Fire them all.
Can anyone enlighten me? What is all this fiasco of Ted Cruz for? He knows, we know what he is doing is not going to work neither helping anyone. We all do what works for us. This is craziness at its worst.
Republicans could not care less about anyone besides big business and oil companies. Screw the needy and the underpaid.
I am so gratified to see the above comments. I knew Americans were smarter than the average pubs. Thanks, all, for renewing my faith. Maybe I can stop ranting around the house for a while.
We already know Cruz is a fraud who has done nothing sence elected by a bunch of teaparty bafoons to hold the government hostage after losing the 2012 elections,these teaparty losers will be gone after 2014, nobody is going to vote for a do nothing GOP.
Nope. he's just another typical politician. If you take of the hard candy shell, you'll discover all politicians have the same rotten filling...
It has been announced that while federal employees won't be paid during a shutdown, Congress has made it so that they WILL be paid!
How Ted Cruz can run for president as he was not born in US ? He knows it very well that he can not run for president.
I do not think that Ivy League educated person behaves like Ted Cruz.
It is enjoyable to watch the GOP dysfunction but not so much as I watch Wall Street react to it.
Scott said, "They are no worse them the Democrats, that want to spend this nation deeper in debt. By keeping Obama Care forces this nation deeper in debt. It is an overpriced bloated program, that is going to cost the working person more in the long run then now. Of course you radical liberals that want to see this country destroyed will back it. Nothing like having the Goverment decide on what procedures you can have. Most companies are moving from full time workers to part time workers to avoid paying for coverage. So the wages of the working class are going down as they have less hours now. So tell me how Obama care is going to help?. When after 2014 current plans thqat you may have now will not be renewable. Forcing people onto Goverment forced health plans."
It's clear from your post that you know NOTHING about the Affordable Care Act, the ACA will bring more insurance companies to the table, allowing the purchaser to SHOP for a plan that the purchaser wants and can afford. Go to whitehouse.gov to READ the act and stop listening to rush, Cruz, hannity and beck, it's working GREAT in NYC and California, unfortunately the southern states, which has the largest % of people in poverty and the largest % of uninsured people, will not see the cost savings (they're allowing the Feds to set up the exchanges) and the people in those states will suffer. If any company cuts their employees hours to keep from insuring them, they should be boycotted and lose more money than they would have paid in health insurance!
Maybe that was the nicest thing he could think to say about Canadian Cruz.
Peter "pro-war" King. Representative of the OLD Republican party. There's a NEW Republican party up and coming old-man Peter and you're not going to be a part of it. The notion that you stand a chance to be President is laughable. This Republican will vote for Hillary before you, Peter King. Please leave, Peter King; the USA is done with you.
If anyone should not be calling names, it's that dimbulb Steve King. What a maroon!
Catherine said:
-–
GEE what a surprise not a story about the congress people that walked out of the Benghazi hearings BEFORE the victim's families spoke. Here is a list of them – they should be impeached or recalled. This goes far beyond politics, they in essence spit in the face of these families – OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!
-–
You listed Tammy Duckworth as someone who "Walked out of the Benghazi hearings before the victims' families spoke."
I'd suggest you inform yourself on a variety of issues, rather than just cutting and pasting silly talking points, starting with just how Tammy Duckworth "walked" out of the Benghazi hearings...As if leaving the hearings was an intentional affront to the families, rather than some other possible obligation.
Perhaps a cut and paste from some right wing blog could be followed up with some fact checking, next time?
I got he message: DO NOT VOTE FOR ANY REPUBLICAN.
The right just keeps getting crazier and crazier and more extreme. It'd be nice if they reigned it in but they appear to be playing to the extreme religious, the most racist and the most uneducated FOX viewers in their party.
The ignorance of the american people scares the hell out of me.
dcshananigans
Rep. King doesn't understand defending principles. He would rather bend over and take Obamacare, where as Sen. Cruz would rather go down fighting.
-----------------
Actually, Rep. KIng understands democracy and basic arithmetic. Cruz admitted that he doesn't have the votes. King also wants to win future election. You're cheering for the destruction of the Repubilcan Party.