Cantor Warns of Political 'Civil War' Among Conservatives

On Wednesday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told a GOP member in a closed-door conference meeting that any Republican efforts to stymie the Senate’s version of the Violence Against Women Act from coming to the House floor would spark a “civil war” within the Republican Party.

GOP members appear to have heeded Cantor’s warnings, as only nine members voted against the rule to consider the bill.

But some conservatives, like talk-radio star Mark Levin, say Cantor is already embroiled in a political civil war, whether he knows it or not. 

“Mr. Cantor, I hate to tell you this: We’re already in political war with you,” said Levin.  

“He’s the majority leader because we, the conservatives, made him the majority leader. We gave them the House of Representatives. Now he’s passing a piece of ultra left-wing trash, dressed up as a violence against women law, which is a disaster, and threatening conservatives who want to kill it.

“We are not fooled by the title on this law.  We are not fooled that aspects of it are unconstitutional and were ruled unconstitutional in the year 2000. And we are not fooled by the breadth of this law, which includes people who are not women, which confers jurisdiction in some cases to Indian tribes, which expands immigration for more illegal immigrants; and which has such ambiguous and vague language as ’emotional distress’ or ‘using unpleasant speech.'”

The nine Republicans who voted against bringing the Senate version of the bill to the floor include: Reps. Steve King (R-IA), Paul Broun (R-GA), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), Walter Jones (R-NC), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Tom McClintock (R-CA), and Matt Salmon (R-AZ).