David Brat, who defeated House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a stunning upset Tuesday, reacted to winning the Virginia GOP primary in a Fox News interview, saying that he thinks Cantor is a "fine person" and slamming the press for the coverage he had thus far received.
"What would you want to say to Eric Cantor tonight?" host Sean Hannity asked.
"To Eric Cantor, throughout the entire race, I've always said, I'm not running against Eric Cantor as a person — he's a fine person," Brat told the conservative talk show personality. "But, I just ran against him on the principles that I enumerated on my webpage and I went through them methodically."
"And I think the Republicans and the leadership were off course on those fundamental principles that I've said in the Republican creed and they're on my webpage still," he added.
Brat, who contended that "the American people know the country is headed in the wrong direction," also appeared to take issue with some media outlets branding him as a "far-right" candidate.
"I just recommend people, like I do the press, that the press never took me up on this, they never reported on the facts, I wish they would do their jobs and report the news, just look at my biography," he said. "Right, I've been a conservative my whole life. There is nothing hard-right or far-right about anything."
In this combination of Associated Press photos, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., left, and Dave Brat, right, react after the polls close Tuesday, June 10, 2014, in Richmond, Va. Brat defeated Cantor in the Republican primary. (AP Photo)
"I just believe in ideas and that ideas matter in history and that's my background and that's the way I'd like to be portrayed," he added.
In his lengthy interview with Hannity, Brat said the American people are "ready for serious issues," while chiefly attributing his win to God.
“God acts through people, and God acted through the people on my behalf," he said. "We’re just celebrating like crazy tonight, just an unbelievable miracle.”
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