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2024 GOP candidate Larry Elder sides with calls to pardon Trump

Elder said he believes Donald Trump doesn't have the ability to attract swing voters, but said he would also pardon the former president if elected.
Posted at 10:58 PM, Jun 13, 2023

Conservative radio talk show host and 2024 GOP nominee hopeful Larry Elder says he would support a pardon for former president Donald Trump. 

Elder told Scripps News that if he is elected president he is "very likely" to pardon Trump, who is dealing with multiple indictments levied against him stemming from his time in office and from his business dealings. 

The 70-year-old White House hopeful Elder has said "America is in decline." 

During a roughly seven minute-long interview with Scripps News, he listed a host of allegations made against President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over the years in a rush of whataboutisms that turned attention away from the federal charges against Trump.

Elder, while appearing to fully support Trump's past while holding office, said he is worried about swing voters. 

"If I felt that Donald Trump was electable I wouldn't be running," Elder said. 

He said, "I feel there are so many swing voters, especially female swing voters in the suburbs who would not vote for the man if he walked on water. And if he did, they'd say he can't swim."

"I have no idea what to do about Trump derangement syndrome, but I believe it poses a problem, and that problem is electability," Elder said. 

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He said that while he believes Trump was "great" as president, he doesn't believe he is electable as the GOP nominee considering the indictments against him. 

Vivek Ramaswamy, an activist and entrepreneur running against former President Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, said he has contacted other presidential candidates to ask them to consider committing to a pardon for Trump is they win the 2024 election. 

"Republican voters, and even Republican candidates, are going to realize they need to coalesce behind a candidate whose last name is other than Trump, who can actually win against Biden-Harris in November 2024, and I'm that guy," Elder said.