Conservative radio talk show host Larry Elder told Breitbart News on Friday afternoon that he is considering a presidential run in 2024, after being encouraged by his network of fans and donors from his 2021 gubernatorial campaign in California.
“I’ve been urged to consider running for president — and if I do, it won’t be because I want to dethrone Donald Trump, or Ron DeSantis, or [Mike] Pompeo or anybody else,” he said.
Rather, he explained, he wants to “talk about the kinds of things that I don’t believe we are talking enough about.”
Chief among these: “The demise of the nuclear, intact family,” Elder said.
He added that “growing up without a dad is not a death sentence,” but explained that American children are not being taught the importance of making the right moral choices.
Elder also emphasized the importance of school choice in education, and the problem of homelessness nationwide.
And he summarized his pitch to Iowans: “Larry Elder stands for hard work, personal responsibility, a strong belief in this country, that America is not systemically racist.”
Elder spoke to Breitbart News from Des Moines, Iowa, where he is visiting the Iowa State Fair this weekend — a rite of passage for future presidential candidates in the state that holds the first caucuses of the primary process every four years.
He is also meeting with local elected officials and power brokers — including the governor, lieutenant governor, and several mayors — and speaking at the annual fall banquet of the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition, a local conservative group. (Also speaking that evening: former Vice President Mike Pence, who is also thought to be testing the waters for a 2024 campaign.)
Asked how he would defeat Trump, Elder said: “My goal is not to defeat Donald Trump. My goal is to talk about these kinds of issues.” He said that he still expected Trump to win the nomination, but also hoped to stimulate debate within the GOP.
Elder, who ran a strong campaign in California’s gubernatorial recall election in 2021, has a national following, thanks to his broadcasting career and his successful books and columns. Elder was considered the leading candidate to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) — if voters decided to recall him. Elder and other would-be replacements never had the chance, as Democrats turned out to vote against the recall, keeping Newsom in office by the same margin by which he was first elected in 2018.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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