Right-wing American radio host Larry Elder, a black lawyer who denies that systemic racism exists in America, has announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“America is in decline, but this decline is not inevitable. We may be entering a new American Golden Age, but we must elect a leader who can lead us there,” Elder said in a Twitter post late Thursday.
Elder emerged as a more serious challenger in the 2021 California recall election with news that Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has blocked his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Newsom easily defeated the Republican campaign, unseating him in an overwhelmingly Democratic state.
In a 2019 interview with The Hill, Elder defined himself as “Black American” rather than African American, saying that “the notion that there is systemic racism against black people is false.”
She has said that her views stemmed from her parents’ belief that racism can be overcome with hard work and determination.
Elder calls himself “the sage from South Central,” referring to the predominantly African-American neighborhood of Los Angeles. He left Los Angeles after high school, attended Brown University in Rhode Island, and earned a law degree from the University of Michigan.
After law school in Cleveland, he returned to Los Angeles in the 1990s and began his career as a radio host, later broadcasting across the country.
He joins a handful of Republicans who have announced a bid to retake the White House from Democrat Joe Biden, who is expected to formally announce his re-election bid next week.
They include former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, investor Vivek Ramasamy, and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. South Carolina’s Tim Scott, the only black Republican in the U.S. Senate, has set up a study committee.
