Conservative Radio Personality Larry Elder Launches Republican Presidential Campaign

Elder made headlines as the GOP front-runner seeking to replace Gavin Newsom as governor of California in a recall election in 2021

Longtime conservative media personality Larry Elder has announced that he is running for president in 2024 and will seek the GOP nomination.

"America is in decline, but this decline is not inevitable," 70-year-old Elder, who has described himself as a libertarian, wrote on Twitter Thursday. "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 is a former lawyer and the longtime host of the nationally-syndicated conservative radio program The Larry Elder Show.

In launching in his campaign, Elder enters a crowded Republican primary field that currently includes former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Related:Who Is Running for President in 2024? Confirmed and Rumored Republican and Democratic Candidates

Elder made headlines as the GOP front-runner seeking to replace Gavin Newsom as governor of California in a recall election in 2021. He ultimately lost the race to Newsom, but raised his profile — and stirred controversy — in the process.

Among the controversies to resurface were comments Elder made about women in a magazine column he wrote 23 years ago.

At the time, Elder wrote in an essay in Capitalism Magazine: "Women know less than men about political issues, economics, and current events. Good news for Democrats, bad news for Republicans. For the less one knows, the easier the manipulation."

Related:Meet Larry Elder, the Conservative Radio Host Stirring Controversy as He Hopes to Oust Gavin Newsom

Elder faced even more criticism after Politico published an interview with his ex-fiancée, Alexandra Datig. The pair met a Playboy Mansion in the early 2000s and became engaged in 2013 — with Elder reportedly planning for them to wed right after he got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

But Datig said that she broke off their 18-month engagement in 2015 after Elder allegedly took out a .45 pistol and "checked if it was loaded — while I was talking." She described it as a "Phil Spector moment," referring to the famed music producer who killed actress Lana Clarkson in 2003.

Elder denied threatening Datig, saying in a tweet: "I have never brandished a gun at anyone. I grew up in South Central; I know exactly how destructive this type of behavior is. It's not me, and everyone who knows me knows it's not me. These are salacious allegations."

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