Washington (CNN) Former Republican House Speaker John Boehner on Sunday urged his party to return to its traditional principles, saying a focus on things like fiscal responsibility and strong national defense are key to winning back control of Congress in upcoming elections. "You know, what I've suggested here over the last several months is, Republicans have to go back to being Republicans. Focus in on the principles of what it means to be a Republican: fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense," Boehner told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union." Boehner told Bash that there are fringe members of both parties, as there were during his time in office, but that now, these individuals have a larger platform to amplify their voices. "In my case on any given day there were two or three dozen what I call knuckleheads that wanted chaos," he said.

Source: CNN April 18, 2021 15:11 UTC