California Republican candidate Larry Elder said Thursday that an incident in which a white woman wearing a gorilla mask threw an egg at her head would have been described as a “hate crime” if she were a Democrat. .
“It was a very angry and ugly scene,” Elder told Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” about the episode, which took place while touring a homeless camp in Venice ahead of last week’s vote. .
“You know, if I were a Democrat, obviously that would be called systemic racism,” he added. “They’d say it’s a hate crime. I don’t like playing this game.”
Elder, a longtime radio talk show host seeking to become California’s first black governor, was pushed into an SUV and ejected after the attack. A member of his security team who confronted the woman was punched for her problems, as well as slapped by a second woman. There have been no reports of arrests related to the incident, which has had little coverage in the mainstream media.
In an independent interview with Fox News Digital, Elder stated that some people following his entourage called him “racial epithets” during his visit to Venice. He added that the woman who threw the egg was probably an “external agitator” and said “advocates for homeless people in the neighborhood” had told her “they had never seen that person.”
“She may be one of the 20,000 people who were released before our prisons, criminals, many of whom were violent criminals under this governor. [Democrat Gavin Newsom]”I don’t know,” Elder told Fox News host Jesse Watters Thursday night before adding, “I consider it one of the many intersections in California, intersections between illegality and homelessness.”
“A lot of people are angry,” Elder explained. “The owners are angry. Families are angry. Children have to go and pass these people to school and the homeless population is in danger. It is also a health hazard and nothing is done about it. This is one of the many failures of this governor. “
Elder is one of 46 candidates who could replace Newsom if Golden State voters choose September 14 to regain a Democratic governor for the second time in less than 20 years. Newsom has been bolstered in recent days by the endorsement of President Joe Biden, an appearance by Vice President Kamala Harris and a commercial announcement with former President Barack Obama.
“All these people coming in – Joe Biden has made a statement, Bernie Sanders has made a statement, Barack Obama has cut a commercial – and no one has uttered the following words: ‘Gavin Newsom has done a good job for people of California, ‘”Elder said.” You won’t hear it, because he hasn’t. Not about crime, not about homelessness, not about the declining quality of public education. “
“People are fed up,” he added, “that’s why people are leaving California for the first time in our state’s 170-year history.”