New York Republican and possible 2016 presidential candidate Rep. Peter King wants you to know he was attacking Sen. Ted Cruz before it was cool.
“The strategy of the Tea Party, of the Cruz Republicans, Ted Cruz Republicans, worked so badly,” King said on Political Capitol with Al Hunt.
King has been an outspoken opponent of the plan to defund or delay Obamacare using the government funding bill, which was actively and publicly pushed by Cruz in his 21-plus hour sort-of filibuster. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, King took a broadside at Cruz and other Republicans who supported his plan.
“We can’t allow 30 or 40 people to hijack the Republican Party,” King told Bloomberg. “We’ve got to call them on it. We can’t allow a small minority of a party to hijack it and, again, cause catastrophic problems, not just for our party — that’s our problem — but for the country. It’s 800,000 people out of work because of 30 or 40 people.”
King has said he is considering a presidential bid in 2016, a bid that seems likely to pit him against Cruz. King was not shy about his feelings about his potential future opponent.
“I took a chance when Ted Cruz was the darling of the Republicans,” King added. “It was only two weeks ago, but he was the darling of Republicans. I was the only guy taking him on nationwide.”