Franken explains why he made an exception to diss Cruz in his book

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said in an interview airing Sunday that he made an exception to recount conversations with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in his new book specifically because Cruz “broke all the rules” of congressional interaction. 

“Ted broke all the rules by calling [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) a liar on the floor in a speech, so I felt that that gave me license to make him an exception,” Franken said in a pre-taped segment to air on CBS’s “Sunday Morning.”

Franken was referring to a 2015 speech by Cruz, in which he said that McConnell had lied to colleagues and was “willing to say things that he knows are false,” a rare breach of Senate decorum.

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In his new book, Franken includes an entire chapter about Cruz, referring to him as “singularly dishonest” and “exceptionally smarmy.” The two have a longstanding feud.

“I probably like him more than most of my other colleagues like Ted, and I hate him,” Franken added to CBS, a claim he has made before to USA Today. “And I think he kind of knows that.”

In his book “Al Franken, Giant of the Senate,” the Minnesota Democrat recounts a story about mocking Cruz using a quip that the hardline conservative was “full of sh–” like a Carnival cruise. 

For his part, Cruz told Politico that, by sharing the story about the joke, Franken had been “obnoxious” and was simply trying to sell his book. 

“Al is trying to sell books and apparently he’s decided that being obnoxious and insulting me is good for causing liberals to buy his books,” Cruz said. “I wish him all the best.”