Donald Trump's language is bad for the Republican Party, as it is sometimes "mean and ugly and divisive," former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Wednesday, but he doesn't think it will go on for much longer.
"I don't think his language is good for the Republican Party, at all," Cantor told
MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. "I think certainly there is a reflection and some anger, [and] I think people respond to that anger."
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However, he continued, "temperament matters" when it comes to selecting a president, and ultimately language like Trump's, "is off putting to a large swath of the population is not something that will elect a president."
Cantor, though, does not think Trump's campaign plan is a "sustainable model," as "ultimately this country and what the people of America are looking for is an optimistic, inspirational leader with a message that is inclusive for all, so we can see a better future."
The former Virginia representative from 2001 to 2014, who now works for the investment firm Moelis & Co. after being defeated by now-Rep. Dave Brat, told the show that his life is now good, as "it's really nice to be in a world in which results matter and people are driving toward solutions."
Cantor also said that now that he's not an elected official, he's not one to say "let's harken back to the old days," but these days, he does see a division in Washington.
"I think clearly there needs to be a return to some vision and leadership for the country," he said. "I think that's what's missing right now. There are opposing parties, obviously, between the Hill and the White House."
This is leaving the country desperate for "an individual that has got a long-term vision, but, yet, the ability to have the willingness to manage that town and to manage the process so we can effect that vision," Cantor continued.
And when there's rhetorical debate or divisive language, "that is ugly, sure, you're going to turn off people," Cantor said, "and I think that's largely what's been going on of late with some because they're headline grabbing. The more you do that, the more of a spectacle you become. I think that is not a sustainable model in politics."
The former lawmaker also discussed the nuclear agreement reached with Iran, insisting that a better deal could have been reached.
"There is news out this morning that indicates that there was some side agreements that were negotiated between the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and the Iranians," Cantor said. "Those agreements, according to the reports, have not been divulged. I'm a real skeptic."
And the deal, he continued, will "legitimize Iran in the eyes of the world. It will welcome Iran back into the sort of normalized relationships that it has been starved of for decades now. I think it's a disaster for peace in the region [and] a threat to us and our allies."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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