Leftist Reporters Slam California Governor Candidate Larry Elder For ‘Downplaying Racism In America’

After conservative radio host Larry Elder announced his candidacy for California governor, left-leaning journalists began slamming him for “downplaying racism in America” — and daring to hold conservative views as an African-American.

The “Sage From South Central” told The Daily Wire on Thursday that his decision to run for governor is driven by California’s dysfunction and Gavin Newsom’s incompetence: “The state is practically ungovernable with Democrats enjoying supermajorities in the Senate and the Assembly, plus a left-wing clueless governor totally beholden to the teachers union that opposes choice in school.” 

His candidacy will emphasize “rising crime, rising homelessness, declining quality of urban education and the governor’s anti-science coronavirus mandates that were the most severe in the country.” However, journalists and opinion columnists most emphasized Elder’s purported misreading of American race relations.

Dustin Gardiner of the San Francisco Chronicle painted Elder’s views on race as scandalous:

His beliefs on race are likely to draw gasps from some voters. Elder contends racism isn’t a major problem in America today and that police are less likely to use violent force against people of color than white suspects. Most fervently, he argues households with single mothers are the cause of higher crime in Black communities.

Elder, 69, grew up in the South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles, raised by a father who was a janitor and a stay-at-home mother. He said the progress Black households made in that era has been undermined by the decline of the nuclear family. Policy experts and academic researchers point to a host of other factors to explain disproportionate poverty and violence in Black communities: systemic racism in employment and home ownership, less inter-generational wealth and brutality in policing.

Jean Guerrero of the Los Angeles Times sought to link Elder to the most “toxic” figures of the Trump presidency — a move that is no doubt an appeal to her Trump-loathing readers:

Larry Elder, the nationally syndicated conservative talk show host who is running to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, played a little-known role in the rise of some of the Trump era’s most toxic figures and ideas.

White grievance politics were once the purview of neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan, as when David Duke claimed “the white man” was the real “second class citizen in America today.” Now, thanks in no small part to Elder and his protégés, the delusion of rampant reverse racism is mainstream in Republican politics and Fox News.

Marlow calls Elder “one of the most important American conservatives.” Elder also inspired media provocateur Candace Owens, who calls him one of her “idols.” He’s also had allies in former Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and David Horowitz, another Miller mentor, whom the Southern Poverty Law Center categorized as an anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant extremist.

Guerrero likewise blasted Elder for opposing the “boogeyman” of critical race theory:

Elder’s campaign builds on the fantasy that it’s not racist to deny the threat of white supremacy. “Do I look like a white nationalist to you?” he asked on his show Monday after announcing his entry in the race.

Elder, while perhaps more palatable than some of his protégés, has the power to do as much harm precisely because of his ability to seem relatable, even reasonable. His talent for cathartic storytelling obscures the role of history and legal and economic structures on individual lives. His banner of “self-determination” doesn’t seem to apply to people struggling to prevent this country from repeating the crimes of the past.

When left-wing reporters are not slamming Elder, they are simply pretending that he does not exist.

As The Daily Wire recently reported, Elder is featured alongside Candace Owens, Allen West, Brandon Tatum, and Herman Cain in “Uncle Tom” — a film about the abuse received by black conservatives who disagree with progressive dogma. Though Elder was interviewed by reporters from Sweden, Australia, and England about the film, no mainstream media in the United States wanted to touch it.

“Uncle Tom” turned a profit thanks to the massive platforms of its subjects. In the face of clear media bias in progressive California, Elder will no doubt lean upon his fan base to bring conservatism back to the Golden State.

The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases