Talk radio host and failed California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder, 70, announces he is running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024
Conservative radio host Larry Elder, who has failed in his attempt to replace California’s governor, has announced that he is running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
Elder, 70, made the announcement on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight Show.
“My announcement, Tucker, is that I’m announcing that I’m running for President of the United States on your program,” Elder told the Fox News anchor.
He said he had a “moral, religious and patriotic duty” to run for president, citing his family’s previous experience in the armed forces.
Adding that policing and crime are the two issues he is most concerned about ahead of the next election, Elder claimed Democrats had failed and said he was concerned about fatherless families and the environment in minority communities.
His campaign unveiled an “Elder for President” website immediately after the interview.
Larry Elder announced on Tucker Carlson’s show Thursday night that he would throw his hat in the ring for 2024
Republican conservative radio host Larry Elder has announced that he is running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024
“As a California resident, I have seen firsthand how decades of democratic rule have turned the Golden State into an unaffordable dystopia for many,” the website reads.
“I will not allow them to do the same to America. We can enter a new American Golden Age, but we must choose a leader who can take us there. That’s why I’m running for President.
“I’m Larry Elder, and we have a country to save.”
After the announcement on Thursday, he tweeted a similar message.
“America is in decline, but that decline is not inevitable. We can enter a new American Golden Age, but we must choose a leader who can take us there. That’s why I’m running for President.”
The long-shot nominee joins a Republican field that includes former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
On the Democrat side, President Joe Biden is expected to confirm his candidacy for re-election in the next few weeks.
Elder made his first bid for public office in 2021 when he received the most votes from 46 people hoping to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a recall.
Elder’s team completed a campaign website that went live immediately after his interview
Donald Trump is by far the front runner as a Republican nominee at this early stage
Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas (left), is running, as is Nikki Haley (right).
A majority of voters eventually voted against Newsom’s removal, making the vote count in the replacement contest irrelevant.
Newsom attacked his rival for his support of Donald Trump and his conservative positions, such as opposing abortion rights and restrictions imposed to slow the spread of Covid-19, such as mask requirements.
But Elder said the experience of running for office showed he had a message that resonated with voters.
A lawyer who grew up in Los Angeles’ rugged South Central neighborhood and attended Ivy League college and law school, he has a following among conservatives through his radio programs and has been a frequent guest on Fox News and other right-wing outlets.
Elder has criticized the Democrats’ “awakened” agenda, Black Lives Matter and the notion of systemic racism — positions that have brought him into conflict with many other black people.