Larry Elder wants GOP presidential field to address fatherlessness

Larry Elder. Image via AP.

Larry Elder swung through Florida to meet with potential fundraisers for his presidential campaign.

The California Republican needs to boost both his donation numbers and his standing in polls to earn a spot on stage at the next presidential candidate debate. After failing to qualify for the first Republican debate, he hopes to prove doubters wrong about the viability of his campaign. But he also feels like the Republican National Committee (RNC) doesn’t want him there.

“I was optimistic last time,” he said. “You saw what happened.”

Elder stands by assertions he met criteria to appear, including a requirement he showed 1% support or greater in three polls, but the RNC rejected one survey, claiming Rasmussen conducted it for Donald Trump’s campaign.

He’s not the only one frustrated at unsaid criteria being used to disqualify polling. Similar rejections kept candidates like businessman Perry Johnson and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez out of the debate, and Suarez has since suspended his campaign.

But Elder still feels like he has something to contribute to the national conversation.

“There are some issues that I believe we are not talking about enough, if at all, and for reasons that I don’t quite understand,” Elder said. “For example, I think the No. 1 social issue in America, by far by far, is the epidemic of fatherlessness.”

While Elder rejects allegations America has any systemic racism, he points to definite disparities within America’s minority populations regarding this problem. About 70% of Black kids are born into homes without a father living there and married to a mother, he said. The same is true for half of Hispanic children. For Whites, the number is 25%, which Elder still finds unacceptable.

That has lingering effects, as those raised without a father in the home are nine times as likely to drop out of school before graduation and 20 times as likely to end up in jail, Elder said. The conservative pundit traces the problem back to a government dependency established under Democratic President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s, when a “War on Poverty” by his estimation encouraged women to “marry the government” while incentivizing fathers to walk away from the responsibilities of child rearing.

The racial matters challenge Elder’s overall dismissal of system racism, but he said the specter of alleged discrimination contributes to the problem. He referenced studies that show police often reduce their presence in minority neighborhoods after events like the George Floyd death prompted mass protests in 2020. That results in violent crime hurting more victims, Elder said.

He said Derek Chauvin, the officer found guilty of murdering Floyd, should be witnessed in the media as an individual, not as a representation of all law enforcement. He noted the lead prosecutor stressed as much in Chauvin’s trial.

“He never even suggested that what Derek Chauvin did had to do with George Floyd’s race, and Derek Chauvin was never charged with a hate crime,” Elder said.

Elder is also a school choice proponent, and believes access to better education can help reach many Black and urban voters who aren’t normally wooed by Republicans.

Of course, other presidential candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have also championed expanding school choice. What necessitates Elder’s voice in the Presidential Primary?

Even if other candidates have a greater likelihood of winning the nomination, and with former President Donald Trump leading fellow Republicans by a landslide in polls, Elder wants to shape the debate and encourage others to address the problems he cares about.

“If I can get Mr. Trump talking about these things, then I feel that I’ve done my job for my party and for my country,” Elder said. “So that’s why I’m still in this race.”