Eric Cantor’s pregnant silence

Mike Allen of Politico today asked Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, if he’s detected anti-Semitism among members of Congress.

Cantor’s initial response is "no."

Then he says he doesn’t want to say "anything about those remarks," presumably referring to an allegation attributed to his office that Rep. Don Manzullo (R-Ill.), whose defeat in a primary last month Cantor helped engineer, had once said that Cantor needed to be "saved."

He adds he doesn’t "want to talk about anything having to do with the darker side about any kind of comments made whenever."

Allen presses him: "So you’re saying there is a darker side."

Cantor skates to a broader answer about how America is a nation that strives for equal treatment but "we’ve still got work to do."

Allen circles back: "We’re talking about the House Republican conference."

What does Cantor’s shrug say?

ThinkProgress and the National Jewish Democratic Council describe his shrug as an acknowledgment that anti-Semitism persists among his fellow Republicans. 

That’s a leap. But an elaboration from Cantor would be good.