Vice Chairman & MD, MOELIS & CO
Fmr. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on election results, implications for 2024 presidential race
Eric Cantor, Moelis and Company vice chairman and managing director and former House Majority Leader, joins 'Squawk Box' to ...
About Eric Cantor
On April 23, 2026, Eric Cantor appeared on "Bloomberg Surveillance TV" to discuss the U.S. economy and energy policy. Cantor attributed the resilience of the American economy to "shock absorbers" implemented by the Trump administration, including tax refunds, a $160 billion tariff refund for corporations, and actions to ease oil supply constraints. He described the current market environment as challenging but stated that financial markets remain forward-looking and optimistic. Cantor characterized the current period as an "era of revolution" involving geopolitical, trade, and technological changes. He predicted that three large IPOs from OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX could occur within the next nine months, potentially expanding U.S. public equities. Cantor also commented on the political climate, stating that he believed voters would ultimately be concerned about prices at the gas pump and that this would determine the outcome of the midterm elections.
Transcript (65 segments)
✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Narrator0:01
To win majorities in the state's two legislative chambers dealt a blow to Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin's efforts to gain GOP control over the state. Joining us with what happened, the fallout, post-election day, someone who knows a thing or two about Virginia, Eric Cantor, former Virginia congressman, GOP House majority leader, now chairman and managing director at Moelis and Company.
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Host0:28
Close. We just talked, low turnout, you picked the Republican — the Republicans picked up a seat in the Senate, but that wasn't enough and they lost three seats in the House and that flipped the House.
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Eric Cantor0:39
Listen, Joe, you got to think about, this is an off-off year.
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Host0:44
Off-off year.
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Eric Cantor0:45
We didn't have any state wide officials running. Youngkin was not on the ballot. The interesting point about that is he maintains real popularity in Virginia. His numbers are in the high 50% of approval rating in a state that is completely divided. I think that's the story coming out of this. If we want to take anything about what this means for next year, we got a — Virginia, reflective of a national electorate, we are divided. And very, very closely. It came down to maybe 4,000 votes in the state. And unfortunately we came up a little short.
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Host1:21
And, so, Youngkin probably is not going to jump into the fray?
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Eric Cantor1:26
I'm not going to speak for the governor, but I would say that he — you can't transfer that kind of popularity. That's the takeaway too. And, look, you got to hand it to him, he threw everything at it, he sort of said to the noise, keep the noise about anything national aside, and I'm going to focus on Virginia. He raised tens of millions of dollars and —
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Host1:48
Though he also did say that he would try and put into action a very severe abortion restriction plan at 15 weeks. Is any of this pushback on that?
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Eric Cantor1:59
Ohio, no blue — they try to claim it is blue, but —
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Host2:05
There are threads of the abortion issue, certainly in Ohio, that was prominent, but also in the Kentucky, gubernatorial race, and certainly in Virginia. The Democrats threw all the money they could at that issue.
Is that a national issue that loses for Republicans?
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Eric Cantor2:20
Here's the thing, though. Glenn Youngkin's position was nuanced. And the Democrats came in and just basically said that Republicans are going to ban access to abortion, so essentially planted seeds of doubt in the minds of voters that you can't trust Republicans on abortion. And that's, I think, what happened and the takeaway, very difficult to nuance.
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Host2:43
But is that a national losing election for Republicans if the election is next year?
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Eric Cantor2:49
I think when you got an electorate that is as divided as we are as a country, the intensity that attaches to the issue of access to abortion services does drive turnout. And I think that's — that's the takeaway. As we look forward to next year's presidential election —
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Host3:08
You'll see Republicans start — they're going to become — when the population moves, it just takes a while for both parties.
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Eric Cantor3:16
Listen, but it wasn't that Youngkin's position, it was nuanced, and then I think —
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Host3:21
That might be the state of Virginia. But go to Ohio, the rest of the country, you can make this argument about specifically if you want to, idiosyncratic basis about Youngkin, but the rest of the country is not in the same — is not having the same issue.
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Eric Cantor3:37
I think in, again, what the issue was in Ohio, I have not looked at sort of the granularity of what was going on there, but I do think what they said was when listening to Governor DeWine that the referendum question was put into our state constitution access and it will be up to the physician as to how long that physician has the right to perform an abortion. And so, unlimited in a way, which is an unreasonable, you know, kind of position to take, but yet voters listened and said, oh, we can't trust Republicans, they'll ban it. So —
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Host4:13
It wasn't close. It was 56-44, there was no —
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Eric Cantor4:18
Very hard to nuance that question. And then the question in Virginia is, like, Youngkin tried to go on offense on this and tried to offer up a position rather than just talk about crime and public safety. I'll tell you, that is a poignant issue as well. And there was one — there was one race, it was a prosecutor, commonwealth attorney in Loudoun County, up in northern Virginia, he was one of the most left-leaning progressive prosecutors, George Soros funded, he lost. He lost, which is interesting. In all this sort of — because it is an issue. I do think that —
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Host4:53
Too far.
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Eric Cantor4:54
Too far. Joe Biden, Democratic nominee, 95%. 98.
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Host5:00
I think so. Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, 90%?
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Eric Cantor5:05
I just find — I don't see how he's not our nominee. I don't see it.
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Host5:11
What if he's convicted?
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Eric Cantor5:12
Well, listen, if he's — Andrew, you know —
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Host5:16
Convicted, go on appeal.
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Eric Cantor5:18
That's right.
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Host5:20
Are you going to vote for him?
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Eric Cantor5:21
I'm a Republican.
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Host5:22
You would vote for somebody who is convicted?
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Eric Cantor5:24
I will vote for a Republican, yes. I think where — and this is an amazing thing to me, you think that some of that is maybe crazy, Andrew, you look at the other side, and what's going on in streets of these cities on the question of —
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Host5:41
Are you going to vote for Biden if he's 86 at the end of his term and Kamala Harris is the vice president? Are you voting for Biden?
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Eric Cantor5:48
You look at the issue of public safety —
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Host5:50
You asked a question — you put him on the spot.
I am putting him on the spot.
If Kamala is waiting in the wings, you're going to vote for Biden?
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Eric Cantor6:00
How would you put our world in that position?
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Host6:03
You're not answering.
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Eric Cantor6:04
I'm not — I'm the journalist asking the questions.
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Host6:09
That's good.
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Eric Cantor6:10
How in the world would you —
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Host6:13
Would you hire a convicted criminal at Moelis? Would you? Here is a serious question, would you put a convicted criminal on the payroll of Moelis in front of your clients in a board room?
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Eric Cantor6:24
I don't think that's a relevant question.
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Host6:26
It is a completely relevant question.
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Eric Cantor6:28
We are a regulated entity. We would be precluded.
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Host6:35
Bingo.
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Eric Cantor6:36
You see why the poll numbers are up. No one believes these are real convictions.
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Host6:41
That's right.
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Eric Cantor6:43
No one believes it. If you have an attorney general that says —
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Host6:46
You don't believe they're real?
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Eric Cantor6:47
I do believe they're real. If you have an attorney general that runs on elect me because I'm going to take this guy down, that's not normal.
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Host6:54
How do you square that? That is true. How do you square the fact, you got some — a politician up here in New York —
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Eric Cantor7:00
I don't love that.
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Host7:01
Right.
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Eric Cantor7:01
I don't love that.
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Host7:02
It stinks.
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Eric Cantor7:04
The whole thing stinks and this is why the country, I am so sorry to see we have gone down this path, because we are going to start to look like a banana republic whether we got vengeance and all the motivations that are behind what is going on —
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Host7:18
The charges in Georgia are different.
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Eric Cantor7:20
The charges in Georgia are different. The charges in Washington are different.
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Host7:23
You got the documents case, where, you know, Bill Barr will sit here and tell you he thinks on that one in particular that there are some legitimate, you know, sort of —
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Eric Cantor7:31
As a man of judgment and character, I'm going to give this to you —
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Host7:36
Here we go.
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Eric Cantor7:37
I say this because I think your job today, you work on Wall Street, is to go into board rooms and speak to corporate clients and others, and have credibility that you have good judgment, that you are a man of judgment and character. Okay. People are hiring you, shareholders are effectively spending money to buy your judgment. Okay. And what I'm saying is I do not believe, maybe I'm wrong, that you would put Donald Trump on your payroll.
I just told you, it is not even a relevant question.