L.A. Times Continues Questioning Larry Elder’s Claim to Be Black

The Los Angeles Times has continued its racial attack on California gubernatorial challenger Larry Elder (R), this time on the news pages rather than in the opinion pages, with an article questioning his ties to the local black community.

The Thursday article, by Donovan X. Ramsey, is titled, “Larry Elder calls himself ‘Sage From South Central.’ But his ties to Black L.A. are fraught.”

Ramsey cites “critics” of Elder who “say he’s the Black face of white supremacy and his proposals would harm Black and Latino Californians” — linking to the Times‘ own opinion column, “Larry Elder is the Black face of white supremacy. You’ve been warned.”

The article follows the editorial line that black people with conservative political views can never be accepted as black. “I think most Black people know that Larry Elder is a sellout,” one person is quoted as saying.

Some who support Elder’s campaign against incumbent Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in the Sep. 14 recall are quoted as well, though the article concludes: “Elder, by far the leading candidate to replace Newsom if the recall passes, is unlikely to triumph based on how people in his old neighborhood will vote. Then again, his success never depended much on what people in places like South L.A. thought about him.”

In a separate article, the Times described a physical attack on Elder on Wednesday by a white woman wearing a gorilla mask as if Elder were the aggressor, or somehow involved in the fight: “LAPD is investigating altercation involving Larry Elder at Venice homeless encampment.”

The tweet for the article depicted Elder with his hand on a white woman’s face, as if to underscore the point.

Video of the event showed that Elder was attacked from behind and never responded, as security whisked him away.

The Times issued an apology last year for “systemic racism” throughout its history.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.