Larry Elder, a conservative talk radio host from California whose run for the Republican presidential nomination never gained traction, ended his campaign on Thursday and endorsed Donald J. Trump, the front-runner in the crowded field.
“Throughout my campaign,” Mr. Elder wrote in a message posted online, “I have been steadfast in my belief that the biggest issues facing our nation are the crisis of fatherlessness, the dangerous lie that America is systemically racist, the need for an amendment to the constitution to set federal spending to a fixed percentage of the GDP — otherwise government gets bigger whether Republicans or Democrats are in charge, and the need to remove the Soros-backed DAs across the country who refuse to endorse the law.”
(George Soros’s indirect donations to a prosecutor’s campaign have animated Mr. Trump’s allies, and Mr. Soros’s name comes up often among conspiracy theorists in attacks frequently viewed as antisemitic.)
Mr. Elder added, “I hope my campaign has helped shine a light on these critical issues and sparked important conversations about how we can solve them.”
He never surpassed the Republican Party’s donation or polling thresholds to qualify for candidate debates.
Mr. Elder, a Los Angeles Republican who bills himself as “the sage from South Central,” was the top vote-getter among challengers to Gov. Gavin Newsom in the state’s attempted recall election in 2021. Voters instead chose to keep Mr. Newsom in office.
“Now that I am exiting the race,” Mr. Elder added in his message on Thursday, “I am proud to announce my endorsement of Donald Trump for President of the United States. His leadership has been instrumental in advancing conservative, America-first principles and policies that have benefited our great nation. We must unite behind Donald Trump to beat Joe Biden.”
While Mr. Trump is the dominant front-runner for the Republicans’ presidential nomination, he is facing seven major cases in six courthouses in four cities. Two of the cases relate to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, which he still falsely maintains was rigged.
