Republican
Congressman Peter King said Monday it is time to take the gloves off and call out members of his own party by name, after a failed strategy to defund Obamacare appeared to diminish the GOP’ reputation in recent polls.
Mr. King, of New York, said he’s not going to take it anymore and will freely criticize freshman Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, who led the drive to scrap the health care law as a precondition for a spending deal ahead of Oct. 1.
“Ted Cruz and 30 or 40 people in the House. We have to start going after him by name. … It’s really time to speak out against him,” Mr. King told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
He also said President Obama should be playing a “more aggressive role” as the leader of the country in talks to end the government shutdown and raise the debt limit.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida Democrat, told the program there is a shorter route to consensus.
Get all of the Democratic and Republican women in the House in one room, and “we would get this done in a few hours.”
