Flashback: Here’s Eric Cantor Defending the Tea Party Against a College Professor

As the political world tries to make sense of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor‘s unexpected primary loss to challenger Dave Brat, many have suggested the defeat came as a result of the congressman representing the antithesis of tea party values within the GOP.

While analysts and politicians will talk about how Brat’s victory is a tea party victory over the Republican establishment, here’s an interesting clip from the fall of 2013, in which Cantor pushes back against a Fordham law professor who suggested the tea party are a bunch of “wacko birds.”

Along with disputing that charge outright, Cantor attempted to set the record straight on how the movement came about, and suggested the media had engaged in willful maligning of the group of people he believes was largely made up of previously apolitical moms and dads who felt “taxed enough already.”

An interesting bit in light of Cantor’s defeat at the hands of a politician overwhelmingly supported by such people. Watch below, via 92nd Street Y:

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!