On Thursday, CNN targeted conservative talk radio host Larry Elder in his run for California governor in a mostly negative report accusing him of "inflammatory rhetoric." But his allegedly "inflammatory rhetoric" mostly consisted of the Republican candidate having policy positions and opinions that CNN journalists and other liberals disagree with.
After the piece first ran on The Situation Room, Don Lemon Tonight also made room for it near the end of the show. Lemon played up the claims of being "inflammatory" as he set up the report: "In less than a month, California voters will go to the polls to decide if they want to recall their Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom. The leading Republican candidate hoping to replace Newsom is a conservative talk radio host named Larry Elder -- a Trump supporter known for his inflammatory rhetoric."
Not far into the three-minute piece, correspondent Kyung Lah repeated the charge of "inflammatory" rhetoric: "A first-time candidate, he's never held office -- better known for inflammatory, take-no-prisoners talk in conservative radio. His sharpest comments are on race and gender."
After showing a couple of clips of Elder -- one complaining that welfare has hurt women, and the other complaining about the many accusations of racism and sexism made by the left -- Lah read from a piece published by Elder in May 2000 in which he asserted that women are less informed about political issues than men. The CNN correspondent recalled: "In May 2000, Elder penned this editorial, writing, 'Women know less than men about political issues, economics and current events,' adding, 'The less one knows, the easier the manipulation.'"
But Lah omitted Elder's few sentences which demonstrated that his claim wasn't just an unsubstantiated opinion, but that it had been verified by a recent University of Pennsylvania study involving left-leaning researcher Kathleen Hall Jamieson.
After hitting Elder over his opposition to requiring employers to provide maternity leave, Lah went on to complain about Elder's skepticism toward global warming alarmism:
LAH: On climate change, this was Elder's position in 2008.
ELDER (from CNN's Larry King Live): The bad news is that global warming is a crock.
LAH: It's a position his campaign indicates he's evolved from, now believing man may be partially involved in climate change. But Elder spent years online promoting global warming as a myth.
Nearing the end of the report, the CNN correspondent hit the California Republican over his inconsistent answers on whether he believes Joe Biden was legitimately elected President, with a clip of her trying to ask him a question on the subject.
Lah notably hosted a CNN special a few years ago pushing the theory that Republicans unfairly prevented Democrat Hillary Clinton from winning Wisconsin's electoral votes in her run for President in 2016.
Summing up the report, the CNN correspondent repeated Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom's claim that Elder is "out of step" with California's liberal voters.
This campaigning against a Republican candidate by CNN was sponsored in part by 4Imprint. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript follows:
CNN's Don Lemon Tonight
August 19, 2021
11:46 p.m. Eastern
DON LEMON: In less than a month, California voters will go to the polls to decide if they want to recall their Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom. The leading Republican candidate hoping to replace Newsom is a conservative talk radio host named Larry Elder -- a Trump supporter known for his inflammatory rhetoric. More tonight from CNN's Kyung Lah.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: There's going to be no questions.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder won't stop to answer our questions outside his public rally. What he prefers, the prepared stage and his fans. (clip of fans chanting "Larry!") Elder is the leading Republican candidate in the recall election of Democratic governor Gavin Newsom.
LARRY ELDER, CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: -- this man that I'm going to defeat on September the 14th --LAH: A Trump supporter and talk radio fixture, Elder is energizing the Republican base.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: I know it's a Democratic state -- Larry Elder is the one that can save it.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The momentum is going with the Republicans, hopefully.
LAH: A first-time candidate, he's never held office -- better known for inflammatory, take-no-prisoners talk in conservative radio. His sharpest comments are on race and gender.
ELDER CLIP #1: I argue that the welfare state has incentivized women to marry the government.
ELDER CLIP #2: I've always felt that minorities and women complain too much about racism and sexism.
LAH: In May 2000, Elder penned this editorial, writing, "Women know less than men about political issues, economics and current events," adding, "The less one knows, the easier the manipulation." On family leave, Elder tweeted in 2016: "You have no right to maternity leave." Just this week, Elder said employers should be able to ask women if they plan on getting pregnant.
ELDER: -- and I believe that a female employer could ask questions of a female employee or a male employee that directly impacts on whether or not that person is going to be available to work a full-time, a full 40-hour week.
LAH: On climate change, this was Elder's position in 2008.
ELDER (from CNN's Larry King Live): The bad news is that global warming is a crock.
LAH: It's a position his campaign indicates he's evolved from, now believing man may be partially involved in climate change. But Elder spent years online promoting global warming as a myth. He also posted a "10 Steps to Fix America" plan which include: abolish the IRS; eliminate corporate taxes; take government out of education, arguing it should be in the hands of the private sector; legalize drugs and abolish the minimum wage. That position has not changed. Elder tweeted this month: "The ideal minimum wage is zero." One position shifting just this month? Who won the 2020 election. To the Sacramento Bee --
ELDER: I do believe that Joe Biden won the election.
LAH: Then, just two weeks later after blowback from the Trump base --
ELDER: Do I believe that Joe Biden won the election fair and square? Give me a mulligan on that one, Jen and Grant. No, I don't.
ELDER: Was there an election flaw in 2020? Are you kidding me?
LAH: But the factual flip-flop isn't sitting well with Trump supporters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE AUDIENCE MEMBER: Mr. Elder, you're beating around the bush. Do you think that Joe Biden won the election fairly and squarely? Please address the question.
ELDER: I'm answering the question.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: No, you're not.
LAH: He didn't want to talk to us about it, either.
LAH (speaking to Elder as he walks): There was that last question -- second to last question --
ELDER: Why don't you talk about what else I talked about? Can you talk about any of those things?
LAH: He didn't stick around long enough for me to ask. How concerned are California Democrats about Larry Elder? Well, Governor Newsom's campaign released an attack ad directly on Larry Elder. And, increasingly, his sharpest attacks have been about Larry Elder, mentioning him by name. And the governor has been stressing that, in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1, a Governor Larry Elder would be out of step with a majority of voters in this liberal state.
