Boehner: Obama's Goal Is to 'Annihilate' GOP

Speaker expects huge push to win back House
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 23, 2013 6:00 PM CST
Boehner: Obama's Goal Is to 'Annihilate' GOP
Speaker of the House John Boehner talks to reporters on Tuesday.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

John Boehner spoke to a GOP think tank called the Ripon Society the day after President Obama's inauguration, and he made clear that he thinks Obama is done trying to work with Republicans, reports the Hill:

  • “Given what we heard yesterday about the president’s vision for his second term, it’s pretty clear to me that he knows he can’t do any of that as long as the House is controlled by Republicans. So we’re expecting over the next 22 months to be the focus of this administration as they attempt to annihilate the Republican Party."
  • “And let me just tell you, I do believe that is their goal—to just shove us into the dustbin of history.”
  • “We’re going to have to make some big decisions about how we as a party take on this challenge. Where’s the ground that we fight on? Where’s the ground that we retreat on? Where are the smart fights? Where are the dumb fights that we have to stay away from?”
The speech was a private affair, but the Ripon Society released a transcript and video today, with the permission of Boehner. See them here.

Boehner's comments echo to some extent what Mitch McConnell said in his own review of Obama's address:

  • "One thing is clear from the president's speech: The era of liberalism is back. His unabashedly far-left-of-center inaugural speech certainly brings back memories of the Democratic Party in ages past. If the president pursued that kind of agenda, obviously it's not designed to bring us together..." The Huffington Post has more on that.
(More John Boehner stories.)

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