Larry Elder launches White House bid, joining Donald Trump in growing GOP 2024 field

Conservative radio talk show host and former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder is jumping into the race for the White House, joining a growing field of contenders taking on former President Donald Trump in the battle for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Elder on Thursday announced his candidacy for president in an interview on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight”

“America is in decline, but this decline is not inevitable. We can enter a new American Golden Age, but we must choose a leader who can bring us there. That’s why I’m running for President,” Elder wrote in an accompanying statement.

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Elder, a longtime conservative commentator and popular nationally syndicated radio host, easily topped the field of replacement candidates in California’s gubernatorial recall election in September 2021 that Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom convincingly survived. Elder passed on taking on Newsom a second time when the governor easily won reelection last year.

The former attorney and author had been flirting with a White House run for months, saying on numerous occasions that he was “very likely going to run for president,” with an announcement coming in the early spring.

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And Elder had highlighted that made a handful of recent trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, the two states that lead off the GOP presidential nominating calendar, to meet with conservative leaders and activists in the early voting states, and that he’s huddled with donors. 

The conservative host, who is Black, has said that he believes that among the top issues in the 2024 election are inflation, energy, and border security. But he’s also emphasized that he wants to highlight the plight of children in America being born to parents who are not married and to target what he argues is “this lie about systemic racism.”

Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison, in a statement, argued that “when Larry Elder isn’t busy cozying up to Donald Trump or parroting conspiracy theories, he’s laying out an extreme agenda that doubles down on abortion bans. Elder is so extreme he even suggested abolishing Medicare entirely.”

Elder joins a growing 2024 field that includes Trump, who announced his third White House run in November and remains the clear front-runner in the latest GOP presidential nomination polls.

Former ambassador to the United Nations and former two-term South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley launched her presidential campaign in February, as did multi-millionaire entrepreneur, best-selling author and conservative commentator Vivek Ramaswamy. 

Two-term Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis remains on the 2024 sidelines, but is widely expected to enter the race after the Florida legislative session concludes next month. Former Vice President Mike Pence has said he’ll make 2024 announcement in the coming weeks.  

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina recently launched a presidential exploratory committee. And former two-term Govs. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas is scheduled to declare his candidacy for president next week in his home state.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and former two-term Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey are among others seriously mulling presidential bids.