Irish American congressman says he'd kill himself if Ted Cruz wins race

Leading Irish American Congressman Peter King from Long Island has stated that he would swallow cyanide, essentially killing himself, if Senator Ted Cruz wins the Republican Party nomination.

King, Co-Chairman of the Friends of Ireland Caucus in Congress, has long been an outspoken politician who pulls no punches.

“I hate Ted Cruz, and I think I’ll take cyanide if he ever got the nomination,” King said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,“ on Tuesday.

King has clashed with Cruz before after the Texas senator refused to vote for a bill to give aid to Long Island victims of 2012 Hurricane Sandy.

“If Ted Cruz had prevailed, my constituents would be homeless,” King said the following year.

When Cruz attacked “New York values” in Iowa during the primaries, King reacted strongly.

“I’m convinced and know that he’s a fraud and a hypocrite,” King said in an interview with BuzzFeed News.

“There’s absolutely no moral, there’s no basis for any of what Ted Cruz is all about. He was a fraud when he led the effort to shut down the government over Obamacare, but had no plan at all as to what to do once the government was shut down.”

“Coming to New York and basically begging for money from the same so-called rich people that he attacks,” King continued.

“Talking about New York’s lack of values when New York was the inspiration for the country. All Americans were New Yorkers after 9/11. I don’t know any other city in the country or region that could have responded the way New York did to 9/11. There was no panic; there was no fear. There was no crying and complaining.”

King said anyone who voted for Cruz in New York “needed their head examined.”

For decades King was the most sympathetic Congressman to Sinn Fein and at one point the FBI prevented King from greeting President Ronald Reagan on a visit to Long Island.

King also has tough words for Trump.

The Congressman said if he wants support of Republicans he’s got to get more substance, really learn what he’s talking about and can’t just be talking off the top of his head and making reckless charges. Trump needs to “show that he understands what’s happening in the Middle East”, stating: “He can’t just say he’s going to bomb the crap out of Isis.”

King added that John Kasich, whom he voted for in the New York primary, could be a good choice for the role of Vice President.