Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Former House GOP leader: Fear of telling 'truth' to voters led to Capitol riot
The Hill ^ | 01/29/21 01:14 PM EST | BY CELINE CASTRONUOVO

Posted on 01/29/2021 10:44:51 AM PST by RandFan

Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Friday argued in an opinion piece for The Washington Post that the deadly Jan. 6 pro-Trump riot at the Capitol was a result of some elected officials’ “unwillingness to speak truth to power.”

Cantor, who served as the majority leader in the House from 2011 to 2014, pointed to his experience as a top GOP lawmaker in 2013 during what at the time was the second-longest government shutdown in American history.

“Back in 2013, the expectation was that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives could force the Democratic-controlled Senate to pass — and compel President Barack Obama to sign — a repeal of his signature health-care initiative,” Cantor writes on the initiative to end the Affordable Care Act, more popularly known as ObamaCare.

Cantor wrote that “a small group of lawmakers in the House and the Senate, led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), started telling the base what they longed to hear: that Republicans could indeed defund Obamacare simply by insisting on it as part of a larger annual government spending bill. These members, and indeed every other elected Republican, knew better, but very few were willing to say so.”

Cantor, who now serves as vice chairman and managing director of global investment bank Moelis & Company, argued that this “pattern repeated itself at a new level around the 2020 election,” with the “Stop the Steal” campaign fueled by former President Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that the election was “stolen” from him through widespread voter fraud.

“Bloggers and certain friendly radio and TV shows didn’t need to worry about providing defensible facts or being confronted with the truth,” Cantor wrote. “Soon, President Donald Trump was talking about how the election could be overturned and awarded to the ‘true’ winner — him — if only a secretary of state . . . or a governor . . . or the judges he appointed . . . or congressional Republicans . . . or the vice president would fight like he wanted them to.”

Cantor maintained that the issue is not limited to the GOP, adding, “The same pattern is already unfolding… as progressive activists — joined by elected officeholders, including Reps. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and ‘the Squad,’ with aspirations of higher office — tell tales of what Democrats could accomplish if only they were willing to fight and use their power.”

“Political parties and their leaders have a two options: Engage in the competition of ideas and solve problems while moving the country forward, or continue to promote disinformation and false narratives designed to undermine our democracy," he wrote.

“The choice should be obvious,” he adds.

Several Republican lawmakers and conservative media outlets advanced Trump’s unsupported election claims, with Cantor pointing out in his opinion piece that a Washington Post-ABC News poll released this month found that two-thirds of Republican or GOP-leaning voters believed there was valid evidence showing widespread election fraud.

Several courts have thrown out claims from Trump’s legal team and pro-Trump attorneys alleging voting irregularities in the 2020 election, with judges pointing to a lack of evidence.

Trump’s election claims served as the basis for a “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 that was followed by a violent mob storming the Capitol building as Congress met to certify President Biden’s electoral win.

Five people died in the chaos, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick and a woman shot by a plainclothes officer. Two additional officers who responded to the Jan. 6 rioting have since died by suicide.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: cantor; stopthesteal; va
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-35 next last
Remember this guy? Oh yeah, he got primaried. Hopefully more to come...
1 posted on 01/29/2021 10:44:51 AM PST by RandFan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: RandFan
Cantor, who now serves as vice chairman and managing director of global investment bank Moelis & Company,

Every.Single.One. is bought off. Its really quite amazing.

2 posted on 01/29/2021 10:46:53 AM PST by PGR88
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

And yet - somehow the DNC gets what they want and sells us out to the communists as we continue to lose the country...


3 posted on 01/29/2021 10:47:41 AM PST by Skywise
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

“Cantor, who now serves as vice chairman and managing director of global investment bank Moelis & Company...”

~~~

Does anyone get out of the swamp without going onto some board or straight into wallstreet?????


4 posted on 01/29/2021 10:47:54 AM PST by z3n
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan
This cockroach is still alive?
What rock did he crawl out from?
5 posted on 01/29/2021 10:48:34 AM PST by SmokingJoe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

“Remember this guy? “

I had forgotten all about that slimy little piece of snake sh!t.


6 posted on 01/29/2021 10:48:38 AM PST by brownsfan (The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

Forgot all about Cantor! What a screw up that guy ended up being.


7 posted on 01/29/2021 10:49:52 AM PST by RatsDawg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

Just another globalist traitor providing cover for the enemy!


8 posted on 01/29/2021 10:51:30 AM PST by patriot torch (Ashlie Babbitt-say her name)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

He missed the part... “protesting against ballot harvesting...”


9 posted on 01/29/2021 10:53:44 AM PST by Shanty Shaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

Just a couple days ago I was challenged to show any evidence that the gop abandoned Trump and that the gop was a defunct party. And went on to blame Trump for throwing a tantrum.

Hard to see the truth through rose colored glasses.


10 posted on 01/29/2021 10:54:58 AM PST by patriot torch (Ashlie Babbitt-say her name)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

Be advised, we got zips in the wire, down here.

Roger your last, Bravo Six. Can’t run it any closer. We’re hot to trot and packin’ snake and nape, but we’re bingo fuel.

For the record, it’s my call. Dump everything you’ve got left on my POS.


11 posted on 01/29/2021 10:59:01 AM PST by FlyingEagle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

Cantor is a complete fool and is all in as a Progressive touch hole.” so many of his ilk keep saying, “It didn’t happen.” Well it sure as hell did.

The real truth rests with facts that were never examined by a court of law.

Peter Navarro sets these facts our accurately.

You can see Navarro’s report on the stolen election via this link:

“Peter Navarro’s Report Vol. 3 is Online At The Link Below Proving Election Vote Fraud...Biden Lost!!”

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3928717/posts


12 posted on 01/29/2021 11:00:50 AM PST by Candor7 ((Obama Fascism:http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/barack_obama_the_quintessentia_1.html) )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

Scumbag Globalist Rino!


13 posted on 01/29/2021 11:01:04 AM PST by Ros42
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

Best vote I ever cast was to cast this weasel out of office.


14 posted on 01/29/2021 11:03:31 AM PST by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizens Are Born Here of Citizen Parents)(Know Islam, No Peace - No Islam, Know Peace)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

I had forgotten about this loser - but do remember the look on his sorry face upon losing in a primary election. Worthless beltway trash.


15 posted on 01/29/2021 11:04:21 AM PST by dainbramaged (Windage and Elevation)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

Without President Trump, there’s NO TRUTH, just LIES.
How about MCCONNELL telling us the truth????
ARE there ANY GOPs willing to tell the TRUTH about the ELECTION INSURRECTION that occurred after 0300 on November 4, 2020???


16 posted on 01/29/2021 11:06:37 AM PST by doc maverick (The )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

I thought that we were rid of this punk.


17 posted on 01/29/2021 11:08:14 AM PST by Gay State Conservative (Trump: "They're After You. I'm Just In The Way")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PGR88
Every.Single.One. is bought off. Its really quite amazing.

Kinda like a one world order and they forgot to include us.

18 posted on 01/29/2021 11:15:20 AM PST by 1Old Pro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: RandFan

I will not be a member any political party this POS belongs to. I quit the GOP forever.


19 posted on 01/29/2021 11:17:31 AM PST by TTFlyer (Vote harder, sucker. Yeah, that's the ticket. ..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandFan
And Mitt comes out and tells us that we need to admit that Biden is the legally elected president.

All of these yokels are identifying themselves as traitors to the truth.

20 posted on 01/29/2021 11:19:55 AM PST by Slyfox (Not my circus, not my monkeys )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-35 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson