Radio host and former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder launched his 2024 presidential campaign Thursday on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," saying that his family's commitment to serving this nation in part led him to conclude it is his time to give back as well.
Elder, who was the leading candidate to replace California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom if he had lost his recall election, said he has long been smeared by the left – including the Los Angeles Times, which once called him the "Black face of White supremacy."
Elder said he laughs at such rhetoric, underlining that his critics separately correctly outline his policy platform of being pro-life, low-tax and pro-personal responsibility.
"One other L.A. Times columnist referred to my views as White supremacist – because I am pro-life, because I don't buy the notion that America is systemically racist, because I want secure borders, because I want us to be energy-independent instead of energy-dependent; because I know that our urban schools are a disaster," he said on "Tucker Carlson Tonight."
LARRY ELDER CALLS OUT ‘SQUAD’ MEMBER BUSH'S PRIVATE SECURITY: 'LEFT WING HYPOCRITE'
Longtime known by his moniker "The Sage of South Central," Elder has said California is an example of the problems leftism wreaks when left unfettered.
Elder noted his late father Randolph Elder's military service, for which then-Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in 2013. His late older brother Kirk and his younger brother Dennis served as well.
Elder said his father served in World War II as a member of the "Montford Point Marines" – the first Black Marine regiment, named for the Onslow County, N.C., camp now considered a satellite of the prominent MCB Camp Lejeune.
"I'm the only one who didn't serve, and I don't feel good about that," he admitted.
ELDER TO HARRIS: WHEN WILL YOU TALK ABOUT THE ‘ROOT CAUSE’ OF HOMICIDES IN OUR CITIES
"I feel I have a moral, a religious and a patriotic duty to give back to a country that's been so good to my family and to me. And that is why I'm doing this."
Elder said one of the national problems he wants to draw attention to is the "Ferguson Effect" – when law enforcement pull back from patrolling and doing their jobs in response to public pressure following police-involved shootings.
"The people who are harmed by that are the very Black and Brown people that people on the left claim they care about," he said.
"There's been a study that shows hundreds, if not thousands of people are now dead because the police are not engaging in proactive policing because they've been demoralized by people calling them racist."
Elder also highlighted the effect fatherless homes have on youth when it comes to staying out of trouble and attaining a proper education.
"The question we should be asking ourselves is how do we go from having 25% Black kids entering the world in 1965 without a father in the home, a married to the mother to 70% today?" he said.
"And the answer is the welfare state: We've incentivized women to marry the government. We've incentivized men to abandon their financial and moral responsibility -- And if I do nothing else in this race but focus people on those two issues, I will have performed a service to my country."
