Current Events > Larry Elder will "take the call" to be Trump or DeSantis VP

(+) Yeah! (+)

Former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder is technically running for president of the United States. The conservative radio show host, who first announced his candidacy on Tucker Carlson's now-defunct Fox News show in April, is touring the country and touting his campaign slogan: Weve got a country to save!

In order to save the country, he will need people to vote for him. So far, he has not solved that problem. In the Republican presidential primaries, Elder is polling at or around 0%; FiveThirtyEight, which aggregates polling data, does not include him among its 10 major candidates.

Nevertheless, Elder who calls himself the Sage of South Central says he believes he'll win the GOP nomination. I am running for president, Im not running for vice president, Im not running for a cabinet position, Elder told Newsweek on Monday. His statement is factually accurate. He is currently running for president. But his other quotes to Newsweek suggest that he's thought about other possible outcomes if he does not in fact surpass a dozen-plus opponents, including Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis.

In the unlikely event Im not the party nominee, and if Trump or DeSantis or one of the other persons call and ask me to be vice president, I will take the call, Elder said. I wont let it go to voicemail.

It's not a very good sign this early in the primaries before the first serious round of campaign donation figures is announced (expect specific numbers from candidates closer to July 15) for a presidential candidate to confirm they would totally be open to another job. Elder is in a tricky position, though: He's still a public supporter of Trump, he says, so he really has to be careful how he talks about the former president/eternal grudge-holder.

I believe there are so many swing voters in swing states who would not vote for the man if he walked on water, Elder said of Trump in the same Newsweek interview. In fact, they would accuse him of not being able to swim. I have no idea what to do about Trump derangement syndrome maybe someday somebody will develop a vaccine.

Disparaging a significant portion of the electorate isn't necessarily a sound political strategy, especially when the general election swings around. Presumably, Elder will attempt to mend fences with moderates once he's secured the nomination or, in the unlikely event he's not the nominee, when he's accepted Trump's call to be vice president via more hilarious one-liners.

Nothing that grifting dingleberry says should ever be considered or even read about, tbh.

In the Republican presidential primaries, Elder is polling at or around 0%

He failed to win in the California recall election against Newsom so he decided to pivot on that failure and run for president of the United States instead.

Nixon did the same after failing to beat Pat Brown.