At a meeting of the San Diego County Republican Party, California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder condemned state public schools and critical race theory (CRT), and promised that, if elected, he would declare a statewide emergency over skyrocketing rates of homelessness throughout the state.
The longtime conservative radio talk show host is leading the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is facing a recall election.
Elder received a standing ovation as he approached the podium before about 1,000 attendees, according to The Daily Wire, as chants of ''Larry, Larry, Larry'' came from supporters. He acknowledged his ''outsider status'' by saying that he has been a politician for only ''two weeks and three days,'' and said that while Democrats have supermajorities in both chambers of the California Legislature, he ''can stop a lot of bad stuff from happening at the very least.''
He then criticized statewide public education and advocated school choice, saying that ''the polls show that the majority of urban Black or brown parents want choice, yet they pull that lever year after year after year for the Democratic Party that has not given them the first step toward leaving poverty, which is a quality high school education.''
Elder continued by condemning the idea that the United States is systemically racist, stating that ''who would have thought just years after elected and reelecting the first black president we'd be talking about reparations or critical race theory? Are you kidding me? Systemic racism is not the problem, and critical race theory and reparations are not the answer.''
He also blamed the ''welfare state'' for the high rate of out-of-wedlock births in the Black community, adding that these policies ''have incentivized women to marry the government'' and ''incentivized men to abandon their financial and moral responsibility,'' The Daily Wire reported.
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