Exclusive — 71-Year-Old Larry Elder on Age: ‘Black Don’t Crack’; ‘The Elder the Berry the Sweeter the Juice’

DES MOINES, Iowa — Larry Elder, who is running for president, sees no disadvantage to being in his 70s as he competes in an increasingly crowded Republican primary field.

Elder, speaking with Breitbart News in a wide-ranging interview at the downtown Des Moines Marriot this past weekend, said he is in fact an “energetic” 71-year-old.

“I’m fit. I have a nimble mind. It’s all about whether or not you can do the work, handle the pressure, handle the stress, and are on top of the issues,” Elder said.

The quick-witted California Republican even joked about his “sex appeal” at one point.

Elder will compete with a few others in his age range or older, including former President Donald Trump, who is 76, and President Joe Biden, who is 80.

Trump is another senior who is energetic, Elder said, but pointed to Biden’s latest fall last week at a U.S. Air Force Academy ceremony as the latest evidence that Biden is not in that category and is unfit for office.

“I believe that if he can fog up a mirror, however, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party, and if he’s not, then Kamala Harris will be,” Elder said.

Before running for president, Elder, a native of South Central Los Angeles, became California Republicans’ leading source of hope in 2021 during the recall election against Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

At the time, he sought to save his state, saying, “The decline of California isn’t the fault of its people. Our government is what’s ruining the Golden State.”

He went on to receive 3.6 million votes in the election, coming in miles ahead of any of the other three dozen candidates but ultimately falling short of Newsom.

Elder, who has worked as a conservative media personality for decades, took a humorous tone on the topic of his age.

Laughing, he said, “Black don’t crack.”

“The elder the berry the sweeter the juice,” he added.

Elder was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015 in part for his long-running eponymous radio show.

He recalled a reporter asking him, “How old are you?”

“I said, ‘If you’re too lazy to Google it I’m 39 years old.’”

Elder was in Iowa, the critical first-in-the-nation caucus state, for Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) annual Roast and Ride fundraiser, where eight presidential contenders would appear on stage to make their cases to about a thousand politically engaged Iowans.

Giving the crowd a taste of his humor, Elder would open his remarks at the event by saying with a grin, “Say hello to the black face of white supremacy,” prompting laughs and cheers at the reference to the notorious criticism a Los Angeles Times columnist had once made about him.

C-SPAN

Elder says his greatest challenge heading into the primary will be name recognition. He is aiming to meet the new requirements outlined by the Republican National Committee to be able to debate, including receiving donations from a minimum of 40,000 contributors.

“I believe that once I get up there on the debate stage in Milwaukee and people see me and hear me — I’ve been talking about these issues for 40 years. I’ve been a conservative for 40 years, small government, limited government, low taxation, strong borders, pro-life guy.”

He said he plans to focus specifically on the “lie that America is systemically racist” and the issues of welfare-dependent women and absent men.

Elder said, “Once people see me, they’ll realize I’m the one that they need to coalesce behind to defeat Joe Biden in November 2024.”