Recall candidate Larry Elder targeted by egg-throwing crowd at homeless camp

California recall candidate Larry Elder had eggs thrown at him and his campaign team Wednesday at a campaign stop in Los Angeles, with at least one egg thrown by a woman in a gorilla mask.

Mr. Elder and his campaign team were walking through a Venice neighborhood to tour a homeless encampment when the woman, who was sitting on a bike, hurled an egg at the back of the Republican candidate, missing him and others in his group, as shown on video posted by Spectrum News One.

 A man who appeared to be part of Mr. Elder’s security detail approached the woman from behind, prompting her to yell “don’t touch me again” and punch him. Others shouted at and jostled him.

In the ensuing scuffle, the man appeared to have an egg thrown at his head before he left and joined the campaign entourage, which escorted Mr. Elder to an SUV and drove away.

Kevin Yang, a Venice local who watched the kerfuffle, told California Globe that “the gorilla lady hit the one guy, and more eggs were thrown. Then this white SUV just drove away, which I later found out that Elder had been in.”

Breaking: A flying egg narrowly missed the back of recall candidate @larryelder’s head after it was thrown by an activist wearing a gorilla mask in Venice. A scuffle broke out and the candidate was escorted into an SUV.

Here’s the raw (pun intended)
CW: f-bombs@SpecNews1SoCal pic.twitter.com/FeFx3wnuSD

— Kate Cagle (@KateCagle) September 8, 2021

After the incident, Mr. Elder told reporters he was not concerned for his safety. 

“People are angry. People are furious. People are mentally ill. This problem needs to be fixed, and Gavin Newsom has made it worse,” he said on ABC7.

Mr. Elder, a longtime Los Angeles conservative radio host, is the frontrunner among the 46 candidates vying to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in the mail-in Sept. 14 special election.

Polls show support for the Newsom recall fading among California voters. A Suffolk University survey of 500 registered voters released Wednesday found that 58% opposed the recall, while 41% supported it. 

If elected, Mr. Elder would be the first Black governor of California.