John Boehner to attend GOP convention

Former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will attend the Republican National Convention this July in his home state despite many other top party figures opting to skip the event officially nominating Donald Trump for president.

A spokesman for Boehner confirmed on Thursday that the former Speaker plans to travel to Cleveland for the convention during the week of July 18.

{mosads}The Ohio Republican would have been the chairman of this year’s convention if he hadn’t stepped down from Congress in October. Instead, his successor, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), will preside over the July gathering, a duty the Wisconsin Republican said he didn’t learn of until after he won the gavel.

Boehner made headlines last week after he described Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) as a “miserable son of a bitch” and “Lucifer in the flesh” during an appearance before Stanford University students. 

The former Speaker also said that he and Trump are “texting buddies.”

Boehner had endorsed John Kasich for president. Cruz and Kasich have since dropped out of the GOP primary race, leaving Trump as the presumptive nominee.

Multiple high-profile Republicans said they won’t attend this year’s convention, including the party’s last three presidential nominees.

Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, as well as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, will not attend the convention. But the GOP’s 1996 presidential nominee, former Sen. Bob Dole (Kan.), said he plans to go.