RUBEN NAVARRETTE JR.: Left’s caricature of Larry Elder rings false

I’ve known Larry Elder — the talk radio host who just might replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom in the state’s Sept 14 recall election — for nearly 30 years.

Yet I don’t recognize my friend in the despicable and racist caricatures whipped up by left-leaning media companies that seem hellbent on not just defeating the Black conservative, but outright destroying him.

Good luck with that, folks. Take it from me, you don’t survive three decades in the media without developing alligator skin. Elder has it.

According to new polls, the recall election is still a toss-up, though Newsom has recently rebounded and shown signs of life. The career politician has proved to be much better at campaigning than governing.

I met Elder in the mid-1990s, when he and I hosted dueling nightly radio shows for ABC Radio in Los Angeles. We’d see each other before and after going on the air. After work, we’d sometimes have breakfast at an all-night diner in Hollywood. Now and then, over the years, I’ve been a guest on his show.

What makes Elder tick? With less than a week until the recall election that might catapult him into the governor’s office, most Californians still have no idea.

And who is to blame for this? Just about everyone, it seems.

Elder should have spent less time reciting Newsom’s failures and more time telling his own compelling life story of rising from the inner city to the Ivy League before embarking on bright careers in law and media. He could have told voters more about how his own father, Randolph Elder — who worked as a janitor before opening a coffee shop — put his son on the road to success by teaching self-reliance, independent thinking and the importance of not being a victim.

The intolerant bullies in the liberal media can’t see who Elder really is because they’re blinded by their own narrow-minded prejudice against Black conservatives. Here’s a hint: He is not, as a Los Angeles Times columnist asserted in a particularly glib and wrongheaded column, “the Black face of white supremacy.” The media’s treatment of Elder resembled a hate crime. To them, he is a self-hating sellout who antagonizes Black people and prevents them from succeeding. That absurd accusation reveals much about the accusers — none of it good.

Finally, in understanding Elder, many of the candidate’s White supporters — who likely warmed up to him because he agrees with them on many issues — are also of little help. We can assume that many of them think that their support of a Black man wards off accusations of racism. They get to tell themselves that whatever they believe can’t be racist because a Black person believes it, too.

To get at the truth, I went to the source.

I asked Elder if he was surprised by the fact that folks on the left are throwing the kitchen sink at him.

“I knew I’d be running against the left-wing media that despises anyone who is Black and who is conservative,” he said. “Why? Because I undermine the narrative. Their narrative is that America is systemically racist, Black people are eternally oppressed and White people are the oppressors. If you take away that narrative, they are going to come at you with a vengeance.”

The conversation got tense at one point. I suggested to my friend that he was telling White people what they wanted to hear, and letting them off the hook for mistreating people of color. And, I insisted, this is why they are flocking to his candidacy. I even offered up myself as an example, pointing out that when I speak to largely White audiences about immigration, taking a hard line against illegal immigration always turns into an applause line. He pushed back.

“I take issue with you on that,” Elder said. “The audiences you and I speak to, they’re not bigots. They want people to realize their God-given potential, same as you and I want them to. I just tell the truth. … The idea that white people are applauding because you’re telling them what they want to hear? No. You’re telling them the truth. You’re a truth teller, and I’m a truth teller.”

Elder was late for a campaign speech in Central California, and so we had to cut our conversation short.

“Thank you for reaching out,” he said. “You know where to find me, anytime. I’ll see you in Sacramento.”

I wouldn’t bet against it.

Navarrette’s email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His podcast, “Ruben in the Center,” is available through every podcast app.