Radio talk show host and author Larry Elder, who has thrown his hat into the ring as a candidate for the GOP nomination, insisted Saturday on Newsmax that rather than running against former President Donald Trump, his campaign has been waged to run against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and with a focus on fatherless children.
"I think Donald Trump did an extraordinary job as president. And if he is nominated and selected, I will certainly support him and will campaign for him if asked to do so," Elder said on Newsmax's "America Right Now."
But still, Elder said he wants to bring "something to the table" that the other candidates are not, and that is the "epidemic of fatherlessness" of children in the United States.
"Seventy percent of Black kids enter the world today without a father in the home married to the mother," said Elder. "That's up threefold from 1965 because of the Democrats' so-called war on poverty."
Because of assistance programs, he continued, "we've incentivized women to marry the government, and we've incentivized men to abandon the financial and moral responsibility."
The numbers are clear on what has happened as a result, said Elder.
"Raised without a dad, you're five times more likely to be poor and commit crimes, nine times more likely to drop out of school, and 20 times as likely to end up in jail," he said. "I've got some ideas about what to do about that."
Elder also said he wants to expose the "murderous lie" that America is systemically racist.
"It produces what's called the Ferguson effect or the George Floyd effect, and that's a phenomenon of cops pulling back from their normal corrective policing so that there are now literally thousands of people who have been injured by criminals or who are dead or otherwise wouldn't be dead," said Elder.
He added that part of the issue with the nation's crime levels is the crisis in urban education.
"According to the National Report Card, 85% of Black eighth graders can neither read nor do math at their grade level," he said. "And yet the Democratic Party opposes school choice, which studies show can improve test scores and certainly can improve graduation rates."
Elder added that as a candidate, he feels that by putting forth such issues, "I feel I have done a service to my party and my country."
But even with Elder saying he isn't running specifically against Trump, in a recent interview he asked primary voters several questions about Trump and said there may be a "problem called electability" where he is concerned.
Elder, though, told the program that many of the concerns about Trump can be blamed on "Trump Derangement Syndrome," and he believes the former president "did great things for the country" when it comes to the border, taxes, inflation, and more.
At the same time, Elder said he's also been pushing the "Make America Great Agenda" himself for years, including on his radio show for 40 years and through writing 1,200 columns.
"You can trust me," he said, adding that he can attract enough swing voters so "we can defeat Biden/Harris in November 2024. That's why I'm in this race."
Elder further said that even though he'd support Trump as the party's nominee if that happens, he wants to be on the debate stage at the first event in Milwaukee and is seeking the 40,000 individual donations so he can qualify and address the issues that voters find important.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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