‘I’m running as an American’: Larry Elder criticizes media fixation on black Republicans

• Conservative radio personality Larry Elder criticized the media’s fixation on the racial characteristics of black Republicans after South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott’s entry into the 2024 Republican primary field on Monday.
• Elder told the Daily Caller News Foundation that reporters asked him for a reaction to Scott’s ad emphasizing their shared race and criticized his obsession with black conservatives.
• “I am running as an American, who is black, to be president of the United States, not to be a black president of the United States,” Elder told DCNF.

Conservative radio talk show host and former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder has criticized the media’s obsession with racial profiling of black Republicans following the launch of South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott’s presidential campaign on Monday.

scott officially Announced his 2024 campaign during a speech in his hometown of North Charleston, and many reporters asked Elderly for his reaction based solely on their shared race, he told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The conservative personality criticized the media for obsessing over the now two black Republicans in the 2024 Republican primary and blasted reporters for their line of questioning. (RELATED: ‘Real Racism Issue’: Sunny Hostin Suggests Republicans Wouldn’t Vote For ‘Someone’ Like Tim Scott)

“Why do reporters ask me if, as a fellow black conservative, I have a reaction to Tim Scott’s candidacy?” Elder told the DCNF. “Often the question is asked this way: ‘You and Tim Scott are Black Republicans, what makes the two of you different?’ No one said to Donald Trump or Jeb Bush, ‘You’re both white Republicans, what makes the two of you different?’”

Elder said the two Republicans have different personalities, “temperas” and “work experiences,” and he wants people to vote for him because of his personality and the issues he addresses, he told DCNF. The conservative presenter said that he is confident that the electorate will choose the candidate with the greatest ability to beat President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, and he does not want his race to influence whether people vote for him.

“Senator Scott and I are black. None of us considers ourselves a victim. But we both have different background stories, a different upbringing, a different experience.[s] and different ways of seeing the country and the world,” Elder told DCNF. “I am running as an American, who is black, to be president of the United States, not to be a black president of the United States.”

Reporters call me and ask, “You and Tim Scott are black Republicans, what makes you different from him?” My answer? “You reporters in 2016 said to Trump, ‘You and Jeb Bush are white Republicans, what makes you different from him?’” #condescending

— Larry Elder (@larryelder) May 22, 2023

Scott held to the ideal that he is “living proof” that America is not a racist country, noting that his family was able to go from “cotton to Congress” during his grandfather’s lifetime. saying in his introductory speech. The senator relied on his education and insisted that through “faith” and “patriotism,” there is “opportunity.”

“I have lived the American dream. I have held the truth, the unalienable truth, that all men and women are created equal! And endowed by our Creator with the right to be free!” Scott said. “Our party and our nation are at a time of choice. Victim or victory? Complaint or greatness? I choose freedom, hope and opportunity.”

Former President Donald Trump also reacted to Scott’s presidential bid, where he wished the senator well in the Republican primary while criticizing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to jump into the race on Wednesday, he wrote in a Truth Social post.

“Good luck to Senator Tim Scott as he enters the Republican presidential primary race,” Trump said. saying. “It’s loading up fast with a lot of people, and Tim is a huge step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally ineligible. I ran Opportunity Zones with Tim, a great business that has been very successful. Good luck Tim!

The Real Clear Policy (RCP) average for a 2024 national Republican primary, based on polls conducted between April 21 and May 18, indicates that Elder and Scott have 1.3% and 1.8% support, respectively.

Along with Elder and Trump, Scott enters the growing field of the Republican primary with his former colleague and Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley, former Governor of Arkansas Asa Hutchinson and conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, with DeSantis and former vice president mike pence it is expected to follow soon.

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