Larry Elder endorses Donald Trump, drops out of presidential race

Republican radio host Larry Elder dropped out of the presidential race Thursday evening and endorsed former President Donald Trump.

Elder, who ran against Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom in a failed recall effort in 2021, made the announcement on X after meeting with Trump at his Mar-A-Lago resort in West Palm Beach, Florida, according to the New York Post.

"It's time to unite behind Donald Trump to beat Joe Biden," Elder wrote on X, sharing an attached photo of him and Trump.

The GOP candidate issued his endorsement of Donald Trump in a statement and said: "He has my full support to Make America Great Again, end the epidemic of fatherless homes, reign in spending, and restore law and order."

"As I look at the path forward, and after careful consideration and consultation with my campaign team, I have made the difficult decision to suspend my campaign," Elder said.

"Now that I am exiting the race, I am proud to announce my endorsement of Donald Trump for President of the United States. His leadership has been instrumental in advancing conservative, America-first principles and policies that have benefitted our great nation. We must unite behind Donald Trump to beat Joe Biden and fight back against Biden’s unprecedented election interference and the left's destruction of America," the statement reads.

"Throughout my campaign, I have been steadfast in my belief that the biggest issues facing our nation are the crisis of fatherlessness, the dangerous lie that America is systemically racist, the need for an amendment to the constitution to set federal spending to a fixed percentage of the GDP, and the need to remove the Soros-backed DAs across the country who refuse to enforce the law. The breakdown of the family structure and the absence of positive father figures in the lives of many children have far-reaching consequences for our society, including the crime wave we are currently seeing in America today," Elder wrote. "I hope that my campaign has helped shine a light on these critical issues and sparked important conversations about how we can solve them."

The successful radio host launched his presidential campaign in April but failed to reach the GOP debate stage after he didn't meet the requirements set forth by the Republican National Convention (RNC).

The campaign suspension and endorsement of Donald Trump, who is the current frontrunner in the GOP presidential primary by a large margin, comes after the former President encouraged his challengers to drop out of the race and unite behind him.

Elder is the fourth Republican candidate to drop out of the primary race, following behind Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, and businessman Perry Johnson.